The National Assembly (NA) this morning unanimously passed the draft law on the State of Emergency, National Assembly president Heng Samrin said on his Facebook.

The full assembly session was attended by 115 lawmakers and government officials, led by Samrin with the attendance of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The draft was proposed at the session by newly appointed Minister of Justice Kert Rith.

In the leaked version, the draft consisted of five chapters and 11 articles. But Samrin said it now has 12 articles. According to the new draft seen by The Post, the additional Article 10 is on the responsibilities of the authorities which enforce the law.

Ministry of Justice spokesman Chin Malin who attended the session declined to elaborate on the additional articles.

“The draft law on governing the country during a state of emergency is enacted in line with Article 22 of the Constitution which states that when the country is facing danger, the King can declare a state of emergency on advice of the prime minister, the NA and Senate president,” Samrin said.

A state of emergency can be enforced when the nation faces dangers of wars, invasion by foreign forces, contagious disease infections, chaos which affects national security and public order, and severe danger and national threat.

The law sets the legal procedures to implement Article 22 of the Constitution and gives the power to the government to set the necessary measures to respond to the state of emergency.