Future Cambodia lawyers officially sworn in

President of Bar Association of Cambodia urges candidates to 'do your best to win your cases'.

Thirty-four new lawyers pose for a photo on the steps of the Appeal Court after being sworn in on Monday.
THIRTY-FIVE law students were officially sworn in by the Appeal Court on Monday, paving the way to the commencement of their one-year probation period and a future as professional barristers and solicitors.

Chiev Songhak, president of the Bar Association of Cambodia, who led the group to the Appeal Court, said during the ceremony that the students were sworn in with the approval of the Bar Council and the Appeal Court's general prosecutor.

Appeal Court prosecutor Nget Sarath told the students that they would be his future rivals and defence counsels for their clients, and urged them to hone their skills.

"You will represent your clients and fight against me, so you have to develop yourselves by understanding Cambodia's laws and regulations, and do your best to win your cases," he said.

One of the 35 students then read out a passage noting the meaning of the oath taken by novice lawyers: "We will perish if we don't fulfill our legal professionalism ... and let us come to harm or perish by lightning, accident, bullets..."

Judge Chuon Sunleng also read out a legal oath and ordered the lawyers to repeat after him that "we are committed to work with our best at the behest of loyalty, justice, dignity, independence, and obey constitutional law and other regulations and laws in Cambodia".

Khem Sophana, 30, one of the students sworn in on Monday, told the Post that the path to a life of law was hard, requiring nine months to study general law, civil law, penal law and the criminal procedure code, followed by a one-year period of probation at an established law firm.