King Norodom Sihamoni issued a royal decree allowing the judges and prosecutors of the Court of Appeal to delay their retirement for an additional five years. The current mandatory retirement age is 60.
The decree followed a request from the Ministry of Justice and was designed to address a shortage of judges and prosecutors.
According to the April 8 royal decree, the decision aims to guarantee the sustainability of the function of the Kingdom’s judiciary.
“The Appeal Court judges and prosecutors are currently due to retire at 60. Upon reaching retirement age, they may apply to delay this and continue to work,” said the decree.
“The extension of their employment may be continued annually, but may not extend past 65 years of age. Whether they continue to work after 60 will be based on their professional abilities, merit and achievements in the justice sector, along with their physical health,” it added.
Comprised of five articles and three chapters, the royal decree advised judges and prosecutors wishing to delay their retirement to notify the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council of the Magistracy at least 60 days before reaching retirement age, or before expiration of the extension.
Justice ministry spokesman Chin Malin told The Post on April 9 that at present, about 600 judges and prosecutors are employed at all levels of courts across the country.
“The courts are still short of qualified human resources, which has led to the special circumstances described in the decree,” he said.
He added that delays in retirement were not mandatory, and that each individual case would be examined on its own merits.
“Under the current circumstances, even with delayed retirements, we will still lack the numbers of qualified people we need. Even though we train new professionals each year, this is outweighed by the drastic increase in court cases that we see year on year,” he said.
“All of our senior staff have knowledge and experience that we want to retain. As long as they remain healthy enough to fulfil their duties, we will continue to employ them,” he added.
