The Ministry of Interior has issued guidelines to relevant entities, aimed at streamlining data correction and cancellation of incorrect civil registrations, while also improving the implementation of court decisions regarding these matters to better meet citizen needs.

In a March 7 directive, interior minister Sar Sokha said previous research has shown that some Cambodian citizens are facing problems with inaccuracies in their identity data in the registrar, as well as other identification documents.

He said there are also instances where individuals have duplicated their entries in official records, leading to complications when applying for administrative services.

In response, the government and the ministry have issued a series of sub-decrees and legal documents to facilitate citizens in correcting data and cancelling erroneous or duplicate civil registrations quickly and easily.

The effort is aimed at achieving the goal of “One person, One identity”, in line with the National Strategic Plan of Identification 2017-26.

According to Sokha, the revision of data and cancellation of civil listing in accordance with the decisions of national registration officials and courts has not yet been a comprehensive process.

To address this, the ministry has decided to issue a new guideline on procedures for data revision and annulment of civil registration, superseding the previous order dated December 23, 2019.

The new directive clarifies that data revision can be applied to data that is misspelt or misleading, or contains technical errors by commune registrars, such as misspellings in surnames and/or names in Khmer and Latin script, errors in registration, date of birth and other factors.

Sokha also instructed the relevant authorities to perform their duties effectively and in accordance with the law.

Chin Malin, secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice, acknowledged that the issue of incorrect registrations was not the fault of citizens, and this has created a burden and inconvenience for those involved in seeking justice.

He noted that as of January, there were 8,730 civil registration cases in the capital and provincial courts nationwide. However, he noted that following the justice ministry’s campaign to address the issue, authorities have successfully resolved a total of 4,120 cases, representing 47.2 per cent of the total.

Yang Peou, secretary-general of the Royal Academy of Cambodia, emphasised the significance of resolving these cases, which he views as vital documents in the daily social life of citizens. 

“It is very necessary because people need to use the registrar for other purposes … so if there is a stalemate for thousands of civil status cases like in the past, it will disrupt the people’s socio-economic activities,” he stated.

Peou encouraged relevant institutions to expedite the resolution of registration issues across the country.

Yong Kim Eng, president of the People’s Centre for Development and Peace, previously said that civil registration is a significant issue and there should be stricter control over the officials handling them. 

Kim Eng recommended providing professional training to these officials so they can ensure correct civil registrations for cross-referencing.