PUBLISHED: DECEMBER 2015

ICNL’s initial review of the Kingdom of Cambodia’s draft Trade Union Law (Draft TUL) of November 18, 2015. This analysis focuses solely on the freedoms of association, assembly and expression, and concludes that there are a number of problems with the Draft TUL, including:

• Not all workers permitted to form unions (Article 3): Only employees and enterprises from certain sectors and industries are permitted to form unions or employer organizations.
• Mandatory registration requirements (Article 14): Unions and employer associations are required to register with the Ministry of Labor before conducting any activities.
• Restrictions on Leaders (Article 20): The Draft TUL places numerous restrictions on who can be the leaders, managers and those responsible for the administrative affairs of a union or employer association.
• Minimum number of members (Article 13): Unions, Union Federations and Union Confederations must have a minimum number of members in order to seek and maintain registration.
• Burdensome Reporting Requirements (Article 17): Unions and employer associations are required to submit copies of their activities and financial reports to the Ministry of Labor on an annual basis.
• Restrictions of Activities (Article 65): Unions are forbidden from undertaking certain activities, which directly violates their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.
• Arbitrary Dissolution (Article 29): The Draft TUL grants the Labor Court authority to dissolve unions and employer associations for a number of vague reasons, including “misconduct” by a Leader.