A/HRC/45/51/Add.1 human rights. The fact is that this law is permissible by national and international human rights instruments, namely the Constitution of Cambodia, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 32. To respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, many countries in the world have declared state of emergency and lockdown measures to prevent and contain the spread of this virus by inter alia provisionally derogating the people’s freedom of movement, rights to peaceful assembly and privacy. Therefore, it is unfair to chide Cambodia for vital legislation. 33. Law on the Management of the Nation in State of Emergency is drafted in compliance with Article 22 new of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia, in which a decision to place the country in a state of emergency shall be made when the nation faces danger from a war-caused incident or an invasion by foreign forces, a serious emergency affecting public health that leads to disease outbreaks, utter chaos to national security and public order, as well as grave danger that threatens or may cause nationwide spread. 34. The establishment of the Law on the Management of the Nation in State of Emergency is neither, by nature, a human rights violation nor a power-gathering tool as alleged by a handful of opposition groups, but it is a valuable legal tool for the defense of the right to life, the right to peace, social stability and development, which is the people’s aspiration throughout the country and in compliance with the principles of the rule of law in the democratic society. This Law also provides a legal basis for implementing Article 22 new of the Constitution and a legal basis for determining Government’s authorities to introduce measures which are, by nature, prohibitions or restrictions on the rights of citizens. However, this measure is indispensable in response to the state of emergency for the purpose of protecting national security and public order, people’s lives and health, as well as property and environment. 35. Looking at international practice and a number of democratic countries in the region, Cambodia’s laws adhere to a set of balanced and central norms and standards, which are neither too strict nor too loose as Cambodia has studied the patterns of practice taken by those democratic countries, including the Cambodian context. In international practice, certain countries adopt strict and rigorous standards, delegating all powers to the executive branch to take all necessary measures without control, while some others allow parliamentarian or/and judicial control mechanisms; and in the event of a serious emergency affecting national security, the use of martial law is even permitted. 36. In regard with sanctions for obstruction and violations of government measures in this law, it is very necessary for the effectiveness of law enforcement; without sanction law cannot be enforced. Comparing to law in many other advanced democratic countries, the sanction mechanism in Cambodia’s law is much lenient, whereas the law in other countries even permits the use of martial law in the event of a serious emergency affecting national security. 37. In Cambodian laws, powers are not delegated to the executive branch to take measures without any limit, namely under the mechanism of parliamentarian control up to two levels: the National Assembly and the Senate (Article 6 of the draft law); in accordance with the parliamentarian system of democratic regime, including legal responsibilities of competent authorities who arbitrarily abuse their powers, which violates and contradicts the purpose of this Law (Article 10 of the draft law). 38. The circumstances state of emergency is unpredictable and the declaration of placing the country in a state of emergency is to be considered when desperately needed for the purpose of safeguarding and maintaining security and public order, including lives, health, interests and property of citizens and society as a whole. However, what is most important in this law is the review mechanism, which permits either the National Assembly or Senate to declare separately the state of emergence terminated when the situation permits. 39. The critics so far seem to regurgitate their usual political attacks against government measures or policies. In particular, they aim to criticize Prime Minister Hun Sen. It looks like they assume that the baby will be abusive even before he is born. The critics should have reviewed the SOE Law from a more objective lens than just their human right utopia. 7