The Arbitration Council

Growth of Cambodian economy

From the mid to late 1990s Cambodia experienced tremendous growth and change as the country emerged from 30 years of civil conflict. The garment industry and its workforce rapidly expanded, increasing from 20,000 workers in 1995 to approximately 330,000 workers in 2008. Other sectors of the economy such as tourism and construction also began to emerge as local and overseas confidence grew. 

Industrial unrest

These positive developments were accompanied by new problems - notably increased numbers of strikes and industrial disputation. To this end, Cambodia needed a credible and efficient dispute prevention and settlement system that had the confidence of all the parties. Without it, labour disputes were likely to continue escalating and social progress was unlikely to be sustainable.

Bilateral Trade Agreement and the Labour Law

In January 1999 Cambodia and the US concluded a bilateral trade agreement. Under the agreement the US promised Cambodia better access to US markets in exchange for improved working conditions in the garment sector.  It was in this context that the International Labour Organization (ILO) began the Labour Dispute Resolution Project, one of the objectives of which was to ensure an effective system to arbitrate labour disputes. The ILO Project assisted the industrial relations stakeholders – the Royal Government of Cambodia (through the Ministry of Labour), employers associations and unions – in the establishment of a new arbitration tribunal, an institution which was provided for in the 1997 Labour Law, but had not yet been operationalised.

Establishment of the Arbitration Council

The Arbitration Council opened its doors in May 2003 with broad powers under the Labour Law and related Prakas (Ministerial decree) to resolve labour disputes in Cambodia.

At the launch of the Arbitration Council in 2003, His Excellency Ith Samheng, the Minister of Labour in Cambodia from 1993 to 2004, declared:

“The Arbitration Council is this country’s first modern arbitral institution [and it] will open a new chapter in Cambodia’s industrial relations history. With the opening of the Arbitration Council we are witnessing the debut of a new dispute settlement framework which will assist workers and employers in building harmonious workplace relations by providing for the efficient, independent, and expert adjudication of labour disputes.”

Today, the Arbitration Council lives up to that promise and continues to play a significant role in the effective resolution of labour disputes in Cambodia. The Council is supported administratively by the Secretariat of Arbitration Council  and financially and technically by the Arbitration Council Foundation .