A/HRC/15/46 their jobs. This has resulted in individual judges and prosecutors compromising their independence. 53. Sixth, the judicial proceedings have been used by the rich and powerful in many cases to dispossess, harass and intimidate the poor as well as their lawyers and those working for them in the civil society sector. 54. Seventh, the lack of human, budgetary and physical infrastructure-related resources seems to be seriously hindering the work of the judiciary. The judiciary is chronically underfunded, under-resourced and understaffed in Cambodia. Prosecutors do not have enough funds to order proper scientific investigation of crimes. Hence, the tendency is to rely on confessions extracted from the accused by the judicial police. The judicial police themselves are not properly trained in criminal investigations, and frequently use constraint or force to obtain confessions of guilt. 55. Eighth, the ratio of lawyers and judges per head of the population in Cambodia is very low. This is particularly concerning in a system where, without lawyers, one cannot have access to the court files. What is more, most judgments are treated as confidential. There is only one Court of Appeal in Phnom Penh and the poor cannot afford to travel to the capital city for justice. Even the State machinery does not seem to have adequate budget to transfer inmates to Phnom Penh for their appeal hearing. As a result, many appeal hearings take place without the presence of the accused or even their lawyers. 56. The process of legal and judicial reform is an ongoing process in any country. The Government in Cambodia has significantly improved access to legal and judicial information, and various programmes are under way to improve the system through a variety of means such as the publication of legal texts and court decisions. The functioning of the judiciary has been enhanced through interactive and accelerated training programmes and the implementation of the Model Court Project, the building and renovation of court houses, the deployment of Justice Houses for legal services at district level and the establishment of various mechanisms such as arbitration tribunals for labour disputes. 57. Legal education has undergone a major overhaul in the past 15 years with major investments by the Government of France in the training of law students, the drafting of the new penal code and code of penal procedure, and the establishment of the Royal Academy to train magistrates; by the Government of Japan to draft the civil code and code of civil procedure and to support the establishment of the Lawyers Training Centre; and by the Government of Australia through its Cambodian Criminal Justice Project focusing on crime prevention, community safety, court and correctional reform and police training. In 2005, the Royal Academy for the Judicial Professions incorporated training of court clerks, prosecutors and bailiffs. The establishment of the Royal Academy is a key factor to improve the professional training of judges and prosecutors. Other structural problems will have to be addressed by the three main organs of the State, and the executive needs to make legal and judicial reform a top priority in order to deliver much-needed and long-awaited justice to ordinary Cambodians. Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia 58. The Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC) is a Cambodian court with the participation of international judges and prosecutors. After a rather slow start, the ECCC made good progress and completed the trial of its first case. The hearings, against Kaing Guek Eav alias “Duch”, who was the commander of the regime’s central S21 Security Centre, concluded in November 2009. The verdict was delivered on 26 July 2010, convicting him and passing a sentence of 35 years’ imprisonment on him. The hearings demonstrated to the national and international community that the ECCC is 14