8 October, 2016
Slight Changes to the Sporadic Land Registration Procedure
The procedure for sporadic land registration was previously established in Sub-Decree No.48 on Sporadic Land Registration dated 31 May 2002 and was amended by Sub-Decree No.121 dated 9 June 2016 on certain parts of the registration procedure, which resulted in an overall reduction in the registration timeline from 75 working days to 49 working days. The changes made are as follows:
- Upon acceptance of the application, the District / Khan governor shall make an announcement regarding the date of boundary demarcation work to the applicant and the public within at least seven days in advance of the above date;
- Public announcement of the data collection and measurement will be made available to the public for a period of 15 days; and
- District / Khan governor shall notify the applicant of the public announcement at least three days in advance.
Determination of Certifying Authority on Documents Related to Registration of Rights over Immovable Property
In accordance with Inter-ministerial Prakas No.215 on the Role and Responsibility of Commune / Sangkat Administration in Land Registration Process dated 9 September 2005, the authority of District / Khan or Commune / Sangkat were empowered to certify certain documents relating to registration of various rights over immovable property (such as Vente Definitif, donation, pledge, guarantee, hypothec, long-term lease, easement agreement and usufruct agreement). So far, we have observed that these documents always go through the District / Khan administration for certification.
However, on 15 June 2016, the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction and the Ministry of Interior jointly issued Inter-ministerial Prakas No.159 to amend the above Inter-ministerial Prakas No.215. This clarifies that only the authority of Commune / Sangkat is empowered to certify those documents related to various real rights over immovable property. Moreover, before certifying those documents, the Commune / Sangkat administration must be careful and be responsible on the identity of the immovable party and the identities of both parties to the agreement.
MEF and MLVT Set Out Fines for Labour Law violations
On 6 June 2016, the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training and the Ministry of Economy and Finance jointly issued Joint Prakas No. 659 on Fines for Labour Law Violations ("Joint Prakas"). The Joint Prakas determines different types of Labour Law violation, the amount of fine for each violation, and the formula to calculate the fine.
In accordance with the Joint Prakas, there are 105 acts, set out in the annex of the Joint Prakas, considered as violations of Labour Law by the employers. The annex specifies each type of violations, base daily wage for calculation and the amount of fine, which vary from US$300 to US$3,600.
MEF Provides Tax Incentives to Educational Institutes Until 2018
The Ministry of Economy and Finance ("MEF") has issued Prakas No.904 on Tax Incentives for Educational Institutes dated 8 August 2016. It aims to provide tax incentives for the education sector in order to support and enhance the human resources development and to reduce the expenses of parents and guardians of students. The objective is to determine mechanisms in the implementation of tax on profit, withholding tax and Value-Added Tax ("VAT") applied to educational institutes in the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Under this Prakas, "Educational Institutes" refer to public and private educational establishments which provide educational services from kindergarten to tertiary education. This also includes technical and vocational training institutes.
MLVT Launches its Employees' / Workers' Data Centralized Management System
The Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training ("MLVT") has recently launched its Online Foreign Employees/Workers Centralized Management System to ensure the labour migration and protection of migrant employees / workers in the Kingdom of Cambodia through a Prakas No. 352 MLVT.P on the Employees' / Workers' Data Centralized Management System dated 17 August 2016.
According to the Prakas, starting from 1 September 2016, all investors, companies, factories, enterprises-establishments employing any foreign employees / workers are required to request for foreign employees / worker quota through the online web-based management system of MLVT at www.fwcms.mlvt.gov.kh. Furthermore, foreign employees / workers must also prepare an online application requesting for a foreign work permit and work permit through the said website.
New Prakas Issued to Govern Residential Development Business
On 24 August 2016, the Ministry of Economy and Finance ("MEF") issued Prakas No.965 on the Management of Residential Development Business ("Prakas No.965") to substitute its previous Prakas on Real Estate Development Business, being the Prakas No.1222 dated 15 December 2009 ("Prakas No.1222").
Prakas No.965 plays an important role in clarifying points that were not clear under Prakas No.1222, and makes a few significant changes with regard to the license types, license fees and validity of the licenses, new licensing requirements and reporting obligations, etc., to the residential development business in Cambodia.
For further information, please contact:
Eng Beng SC, Partner, Rajah & Tann
eng.beng.lee@rajahtann.com
