A/HRC/15/46 IV. Independence and competence of the judicial system in Cambodia A. The current court system 19. The court system consists of the Supreme Court, an appellate Court, 19 provincial courts, 2 municipal courts, and a military court. Three provinces have no courts; cases from these provinces are heard by the neighbouring provincial courts. The twelve-judge Appeal Court, located in Phnom Penh, hears all cases appealed from the courts of first instance. Three-judge panels conduct complete re-trials on questions of fact and law and may conduct additional investigations. The Supreme Court is composed of a President, a VicePresident and several judges. A five-judge panel hears questions of law for cases appealed for the first time from the Appeal Court and a nine-judge panel hears questions of fact and law in the case of a second appeal, where the Appeals Court did not follow the cassation judgment of the Supreme Court. The Court also hears general revision complaints against final and binding verdicts, on the basis that new evidence has emerged which establishes the innocence of the convicted person and was not available at the time of the trial. Judicial appointments are made by the Supreme Council of Magistracy, which is also responsible for discipline within the profession. Training of court professionals is undertaken by a new Royal Academy for the Legal Profession, which contains a School for Judges (including prosecutors1) and a School for Clerks. There is a professional Cambodian Bar Association but no association of judges. B. Legal framework for an independent judiciary The Constitution 20. The 1993 Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia states in article 128 that the judiciary shall be an independent power that shall guarantee and uphold impartiality and protect the rights and freedoms of the citizens. Article 129 states that justice is exercised in the name of the citizens of Cambodia in accordance with the procedures and laws in force. Only judges have the right to adjudicate and shall exercise their duties wholeheartedly and conscientiously with due respect for the law. Article 130 states that judicial power shall not be granted to the executive or legislative branches and article 131 that criminal prosecutions are the sole preserve of the Department of Public Prosecutions. Article 132 of the Constitution gives the King the role of guarantor of the independence of the judiciary and mandates the Supreme Council of Magistracy to assist him in this task. Other legislation 21. The Constitution requires that the statuses of judges and prosecutors be defined in separate laws. This legislation has still not been adopted. The draft law is currently stalled for a number of reasons. One of them seems to be the disagreement between the Supreme Council of Magistracy and the Ministry of Justice about the Ministry’s role in controlling prosecutors: the Ministry proposes that it should control the Department of Public Prosecutions in line with practice in France; the Supreme Council claims that since prosecutors are judges and judges are independent under the Constitution, they should come 1 6 In line with the French civil law system, prosecutors have the status of judges (magistrats debouts) alongside presiding judges (magistrats assis). The School trains both prosecutors and judges for both civil and criminal jurisdictions.