Koeut Rith (; born 2 January 1979) is a Cambodian legal expert and the current

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Biography

Youth on the banks of the Mekong

Koeut Rith was born on January 2, 1979, in the last days of the

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), and by extension to Democratic Kampuchea, which ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The name was coined in the 1960s by Norodom Sihano ...

regime in the village of Prey Toteung, Prey Chhor District, Kampong Cham Province,

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

(then-Central Region,

Democratic Kampuchea Democratic Kampuchea was the official name of the Cambodian state from 1976 to 1979, under the government of Pol Pot and the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), commonly known as the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge's capture of the capital Phno ...

Legal studies in Cambodia and France

In 1999, when Koeut Rith started his law studies in

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Cambodia, most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since 1865 and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its political, economic, industr ...

, Koeut Rith obtained a scholarship allowing him to continue his higher education in France, in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. In 2000, Koeut Rith obtained a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

private law Private law is that part of a legal system that governs interactions between individual persons. It is distinguished from public law, which deals with relationships between both natural and artificial persons (i.e., organizations) and the st ...

at the

University Lumière Lyon 2 A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

, then the following year a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

(Master 1 at the time) with the distinction "Very good" from the same institution. In 2002, he specialized in

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

and criminal sciences (Master 2) at Lyon 3 university. He began his career as a teacher at the

Royal University of Law and Economics The Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE) is one of the oldest higher educational institutions in Cambodia. RULE was established in 1949 as the National Institute of Law, Politics and Economics. In 2003, the institute was officially deeme ...

where he continued to teach for the French Department of Law until 2016.

Legal carrier at the Ministry of Justice

In 2007, he joined the Cambodian Ministry of Justice, first as Undersecretary of State and then promoted to Secretary of State in 2013. Closely involved in the work of compiling the Cambodian

Criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

and

Criminal Procedure Code Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail or ...

s in collaboration with French legal advisors, he contributed to the

harmonization of law In music, harmonization is the chordal accompaniment to a line or melody: "Using chords and melodies together, making harmony by stacking scale tones as triads". A harmonized scale can be created by using each note of a musical scale as a ro ...

in criminal matters throughout the country. In April 2020, King

Norodom Sihamoni Norodom Sihamoni (, ; born 14 May 1953) is King of Cambodia. He became King on 14 October 2004, a week after the abdication of his father, Norodom Sihanouk. He is the eldest son of King Sihanouk and former Queen consort Norodom Monineath and ...

issued a royal decree appointing Koeut Rith as Minister of Justice, replacing Ang Vong Vathana, who had held the position for 16 years. In September 2020, Rith criticized union leader

Rong Chhun Rong Chhun (born 1969 in Talon, Kandal) is a Cambodian trade unionist and political activist. He is the president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions and has been imprisoned several times for his work. Biography Chhun was born in Talon co ...

for defamation and misrepresentation of the border issue with the intention of inciting social unrest is illegal and destroys the peace and stability of the country. In January 2021, Rith directed the formation of two committees to begin the process of establishing separate courts for commercial and labour disputes, with the support of human rights advocacy groups. He has publicly expressed his support for

Hun Manet Hun Manet (, ; born 20 October 1977) is a Cambodian politician and general who has served as Prime Minister of Cambodia since 2023, succeeding his father, Hun Sen. He is also the vice president of the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP). Pri ...

as the most fit successor of

Hun Sen Samdech Hun Sen (; , Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: ; born 5 August 1952) is a Cambodian politician and former military officer who currently serves as the List of presidents of the Senate (Cambodia), president of the Senate. He previous ...

at the head of the executive government of Cambodia.

Contribution

Expert of the law in Cambodia

Koeut Rith is one of the finest experts in Cambodian law of his generation with an "exemplary academic career".

Fighting for due process within the Cambodian judiciary

Koeut Rith has strived to apply the recommendations the

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is a department of the United Nations Secretariat that works to promote and protect human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Univers ...

for the reform of the legal system and the judiciary so that courts are independent, trustworthy and guarantee equality. While Koeut Rith has emphasized the necessity of

due process Due process of law is application by the state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to a case so all legal rights that are owed to a person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual p ...

and the fight against corruption in Cambodian courts, more than a third of the nation's prison population is in pre-trial detention, though some rights groups put that figure closer to 75 percent. Koeut Rith has therefore hastened court procedures to reduce

prison overcrowding Prison overcrowding is a social phenomenon occurring when the demand for space in a prison exceeds the capacity for Prisoner, prisoners. By country Egypt Amnesty International reported on 25 January 2021 the abuse of prisoners in Egypt not onl ...

Works

* ''"Introduction to Cambodian law" (2003 and 2005)'' * ''"Explanation of the project of the development of the Penal Code and its contribution to the study of Cambodian criminal law"'' (2005) * ''"Introduction to Cambodian law" (2016), volume published by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation also entitled''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koeut, Rith Cambodian lawyers Living people 1979 births Justice ministers of Cambodia Deputy prime ministers of Cambodia