• Society

The Country’s Constitution Turns 30

• By Torn Chanritheara
• September 24, 2023 1:27 PM

PHNOM PENH – Cambodia’s Constitution, the country top law, has turned 30 years old, having gone through 10 major changes in the course of its history.

Promulgated on Sept 24, 1993, it was first drafted and adopted by the parliamentarians elected in the May 1993 national elections, which was supervised by the United Nations as a result of the signing of the Paris Peace Agreement in 1991.

The Cambodian Constitution consists of 17 chapters and 160 articles. These 17 chapters deal with the country’s sovereignty, the king, the rights and duties of the Cambodian people, the political system, the economy, education, culture and society, the National Assembly, the Senate, the joint meeting of the National Assembly and the Senate, the Royal Government, the judiciary, the Constitutional Council, administration, the National Congress, the power of reviewing and amending the constitution, and so on.

Since its inception, the constitution has undergone 10 amendments, which took place in 1994, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2014, 2019, 2021 and 2022.

Unlike the constitutions of other countries, the Constitution of Cambodia is not the only constitutional law of the land. Cambodian politicians enacted an additional​constitution in 2004 on the grounds that it was to resolve the political stalemate and to ensure the normal functioning of national institutions.

According to the secretariat of the Constitutional Council, King Norodom Sihamoni on Oct. 6 will preside over a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the promulgation of the constitution.

Sept. 24, which is the anniversary of the promulgation of the constitution, is a public holiday.