The Asia Foundation has produced the first English-Khmer law dictionary, with

legal terms and definitions printed side by side with the equivalent in

Khmer.

The foundation has worked on the book for two years.

It was

presented to the graduates of the Cambodia Defenders Project at a ceremony on

Feb 3. Graduate Khiev Thoun proudly holds the dictionary, pictured

right.

Asia Foundation representative James Klein said the dictionary

included 1,900 entries in areas of business and commercial law, labor law,

family law, criminal law, international law, property law and human

rights.

Copies of the dictionary have been donated to all Cambodian

ministries and government agencies, and to judges, prosecutors, lawyers, law

students, MPs, NGOs, media and foreign embassies.

Klein said the book was

a draft and an initial step in creating a comprehensive bilingual

dictionary.

He said the Cambodian legal community supported the work that

went into publishing the dictionary, and it was important they provided input to

refine translations and identify subsequent inclusions.