A slippery and inconsistent slope: How Cambodia's draft cybercrime law exposed the dangerous drift away from international human rights standards

Abstract

In the late 70's, a Group of Experts on Transborder Data Barriers and Privacy Protection was set up within the OECD. This expert group developed guidelines on basic rules governing the transborder flow and the protection of personal data and privacy. The purpose was to “facilitate a harmonization of national legislations, without this precluding at a later date the establishment of an international Convention.” The Guidelines are described as “minimum standards for adoption in domestic legislation … and … capable of being supplemented by additional measures for the protection of privacy and individual liberties at the national as well as the international level.” Decades on, there remains no internationally accepted set of principles, leaving states with piecemeal legislation.2The draft Cybercrime Law for Cambodia is just the latest in this long line of laws that attempt to resolve this issue. This Article will demonstrate, however, that the draft Cybercrime Law for Cambodia exposed a dangerous drift away from international human rights standards regarding protection of speech and right to privacy on the Internet. We will also propose possible redrafting of the Cambodian law, to bring it in line with their international human rights obligations and provide for easier implementation along with a possible framework for an international construct dealing with this pressing legal issue.