Bridges Across Borders Cambodia

Bridges Receives 22 Legal Interns in Cambodia

Our Cambodia office in Phnom Penh saw the arrival of 22 law students from around the globe this month, launching the 2007 Bridges Across Borders Summer Legal Studies Internship Program. This year marks the fourth year that Bridges is hosting international legal interns - a program that has evolved from modest beginnings of just 4 participants. This year’s group of law students was competitively selected, according to their demonstrated interest in human rights and public interest work, from universities in Canada, Mexico, Singapore, and the US. During their stay, they will get a unique glimpse into some of the most pressing human rights issues faced in contemporary Cambodia.

Over the summer, the interns will work towards developing community legal training manuals, which will be used by community based legal advisors to assist, advise and teach Cambodians how to effectively access both the traditional and non-traditional legal justice system . The need for this stems from the difficulties faced by the evolving justice system, which is still fraught with problems. With the current situation, the only way to establish the rule of law is if citizens can themselves apply the laws of Cambodia from the ground up. Thus far, the development and use of the Bridges' legal curriculum in various community trainings has shown encouraging and effective results.

For three months, the interns will research and break down the laws of Cambodia to the most essential elements to make them comprehensible and accessible to all Cambodians irrespective of educational levels. The program will then seek to convey the law effectively through interactive teaching methodologies at the grass-roots level to citizens from all levels of society. The subsequent development of training manuals each focused on different areas of law, such as land law, housing rights, children's rights, and family law will be used to carry out training with a number of organizations and communities around Cambodia.

Bridges Across Borders' legal internship program offers an opportunity to make a real contribution to fighting the hardships and legal inequity of Cambodia while being involved in a remarkable cultural exchange involving representatives from all over the world. The law interns will also be visiting a multitude of sites and communities that Bridges is involved with, giving them a well-rounded insight into life in Cambodia . Working and living in Phnom Penh , the legal interns will have an unforgettable summer learning Khmer, working with Cambodian law students and lawyers, and learning to live and work with colleagues from different cultures and backgrounds - an experience impossible to gain as a tourist.