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A case study of indigenous traditional legal systems and conflict resolution in Rattanakiri and Mondulkiri provinces, Cambodia Produced by: United Nations Development Programme (2007) Following a case study in Cambodia during March to April 2006, this paper presents a summary of the findings of the participatory action research case study into indigenous traditional legal systems in Rattanakiri and Mondulkiri Provinces. It discusses some of the main policy issues that need to be dealt with as part of a reform process to enhance access to justice for indigenous peoples. It also summarises the main recommendations resulting from the work. The research found that indigenous communities overwhelmingly trust, use and support their customary laws and conflict resolution processes within their communities. In addition to this, indigenous groups are marginalised in the formal legal system, but traditional law allows minority cultures to maintain their integrity and deal with change. The formal and traditional legal systems address different rights, responsibilities and conflicts. The researchers learned that this type of research cannot be rushed a! nd significant time and effort is required to understand the living conditions of the marginalised groups during the early part of the research process in order to develop appropriate policy recommendations. Although the authors argue that it is not possible to come up with a list of instant recommendations to be implemented, some suggestions include: create a facility within the Ministry of Justice authorised to liaise with other relevant institutions (e.g., Ministry of Interior [MoI] and Department of Ethnic Minorities in the Ministry of Rural Development [MRD]) support an ongoing process of consultation, research and documentation with Indigenous Peoples' communities (in a number of provinces). This should be led by indigenous organisations/networks, and feed into national level consultations the government should invest traditional authorities with the formal authority to deal with illicit land sales and conflicts,! and to mediate boundary disputes, including ancestral land claims explore the opportunity for the Traditional Authorities to have a more formalised role of Conflict Resolution under the commune councils with delegation of power from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and MoI.
http://www.un.org.kh/undp/ict4dtoolkit/index2.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_vie...
Keywords: Cambodia, Conflict resolution, Conflicts. Terrorism, Law and legislation, Legislation, Southeast Asia,
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