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Published: November 9th 2013
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FACES OF CAMBODIA: There are two kinds of Justice. A lawyer in South America told me results of Court cases were often decided by how much you paid the judge.
But in Khmer culture...I was told there are two types of justice: The lawyer that has a good knowledge of the law and the lawyer that knows the judge well.
Do I have your attention?
The United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime reports:
"In Cambodia and throughout the world, corruption exists in the Judiciary: extortion, bribery, political influence, trading in influence, biased participants in trials and nepotism."
On 6 July 2012 Cambodian judges, prosecutors and senior Government ministers met at a Judicial Integrity workshop in Phnom Penh to discuss what makes a fair and ethical judge and how they can advance judicial integrity in their country.
The Minister for Justice said "The loss of honesty in the judicial and prosecutorial profession has created a lack of public confidence in the court system."
The Report on this Workshop stated:
"Noting instances where villagers chose to flee rather than attend their trial, fearing the outcome of an unjust judicial court, the Minister discussed
how judicial corruption prevents the court from fulfilling its function: to protect the rights of the people it serves."
The report concluded: "The participants agreed that more concrete laws be established to increase the support they receive from society and the government, decrease outside influences and make more independant, impartial and just decisions."
*****
Yeeka...they need laws to be honest...yeeka!
*****
As I wandered among the scattered stones of ancient Khmer temples I pondered if the roots of the trees that snaked through and ensnared the ruins...were not simply Mother Nature proclaiming her territory...but something much more sinister.
The mighty Khmer Empire that dominated SE Asia for centuries had disappeared for reasons not understood.
We don't know???
Me thinks we don't know where to look.
Me thinks it may be integrity decayed...corruption...loss of honest values...mighty civilisation thus lost.
Modern man does not seem to know the answers.
So I asked the animals.
*****
In Khmer fables...the smartest are not necessarily the most powerful...not the elephants, rhinos, tigers, cobras...no sirree.
The hero is often a small rabbit...the hare...using his brain to make up for his size.
So...in my search for judicial integrity...my
search for Khmer decline...
I asked the Hare Judge.
The Hare Judge Two friends went to set traps in the jungle...one to catch birds up a tree...the other to catch deer at the base...then returned home.
Later the one who had set the bird trap returned to check the traps, without telling his friend.
He found a bird in his trap at the top and a deer snared in his friend's at the base.
He took the deer and slipped it in his snare at the top of the tree...and put the bird from his trap in his friend's.
He then returned home...awaiting his friend to meet up to check the traps together.
When his friend came by they trotted off together as planned.
The one with the bird trap climbed up the tree...and was jubilant...there was a deer snared up there!!!
The other was surprised.
How come there was a bird in his at the base...and a deer in his friend's up the tree???
"Lack of integrity me thinks" he thought.
So he complained to the Hare Judge.
******
While the plaintiff
was telling his sorry tale to the Hare Judge...the miscreant defendant cut two haunches off the deer.
He then paid a visit to two judges and slipped them a haunch each...just a generous guy...nothing more.
The Hare Judge listed the hearing for the following day.
The next day, both parties attended court...the presiding judges being the two judges visited by the defendant.
The Hare Judge arrived late for Court.
The Head Judge asked "Hare Judge...where have you been to be so late?"
The Hare Judge answered: "I am late as I have been observing Kranh fishes climbing up a Krasang tree and eating it's flowers...a rather unusual sight I must say."
One of the judges replied sarcastically "So some of your ancestors have seen fish climbing trees and eating their flowers...have they?"
The Hare Judge sniffed the wind...nibbling the air...then replied "And you oh clever Judge...how many of your forebears have saw a deer caught in a trap on top of a tree?"
Everyone in Court...except the defendant....cracked up laughing.
"Judgment for the plaintiff" was the cry.
At that moment someone in the Court called out "The Hare Judge
didn't get a present."
But he had.
The Hare Judge had received from the plaintiff the bird that he found in the deer trap!!!
*****
There are two types of justice: The lawyer that has a good knowledge of the law...and the lawyer that knows the Judge well.
*****
I wandered among the stones...the weathered slabs that had formed the halls and temples of a mighty empire...danced and skipped over the climbing vines and invading tree roots...hoping the mines of the Khmer Rouge would not jump out & explode to surprise me...reflecting on the shafts of light that cut through the canopy...photographing these magic ruins...these magic stones...allowing my imagination...my creative juices...to run wild.
How lucky am I?
Sniffing the wind...nibbling the air...using my brain to make up for my size.
What's that I see at the top of that tree?
Wouldn't be a deer would it?
Relax & Enjoy,
Dancing Dave
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A Small Swede in the Big World
Per-Olof Persson
Great Blog as Always!
As always I hurry in here when I get the news of a nother update and as always I'm liking what I'm seeing, great post and I'm already looking forward to the next!