Implementing the law on disaster management in Cambodia: Developing subsidiary legislation

This report is intended to provide the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) and the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) with a practical resource and recommendations for the next stage of implementation of the Law on Disaster Management (DM Law). The discussion in this report has focused on implementing the DM Law through the subsidiary legislation mandated within the law itself. The recommendations for development of substantive decrees are based on the specific provisions that require them, and the overall objectives and goals of the DM Law. An effort has also been made to address the key challenges identified by stakeholders and reviews of the pre-existing system. The report includes some additional areas proposed for subsidiary legislation for consideration of the RGC, which are not mandated by the DM Law, but fall within its general scope.

In June 2015 Cambodia’s legislature passed the DM Law. This represented a major shift from an institutional system for disaster management based only on subsidiary legislation, which had been in place since 1995, to a broader and more authoritative legislative mandate on disaster management. A legal framework for disaster management assigns legally binding roles and responsibilities, establishes institutions, and can also help ensure allocation of resources and mechanisms for coordination amongst different institutions.