The Legal Service has the objective to provide free legal assistance including legal consultation, representation and defense to meet the needs of child victims and child offenders through all stages of the legal process in the Cambodian justice system, and successfully achieving the objectives will serve to help build a protection and promotion of juvenile justice in Cambodia.

Protection of Juvenile Justice (PJJ) has the policy to provide free legal consultations for all kinds of clients with any problems. This activity can happen with the appointment with the lawyer at PJJ office, through phone calls, and/or during trainings. The clients can choose which lawyer they would like to discuss their problems with.

Consultation at PJJ main office:

In this activity, the clients usually come to PJJ main office to discuss their problems with the lawyers or lawyer assistants. In some cases, the clients do not want to file a complaint against the perpetrators, but they only want to know more about the legal procedure and the law. In some cases, after the consultation the clients request legal representation from PJJ. At the same time, PJJ will decide to represent the clients or not  based on its policy. Should PJJ not represent the clients, PJJ will try its best to contact the NGO partners and send the clients to those partners that have the legal services for the clients.

Consultations through phone calls:

This consultation can happen any time (day or night and/or public holidays). This is also a way of consulting people where they do not have to travel a long distance, which is costly and time-consuming. They only call in and PJJ staff will call back. Even though this activity is a good one, records of the sessions are not usually done.

Consultations during trainings

If the participants have any questions during the training, PJJ will allocate some time for them to discuss their problems with PJJ.

Children are one of the most vulnerable groups in Cambodian society since they can least defend themselves. In addition to such various problems as poverty, malnutrition, education and health care, an increasing number of Cambodian children are at risk or have become victims of violence, crimes and various other forms of abuses.

For legal representations, PJJ has found out a lot more issues underlying each of the cases, especially those of sexual exploitation/trafficking which are considered to be the most pressing issues. Because of the lack of the knowledge and understanding of the law and the corruption in the system, many children have to suffer and experience injustice.

However, little attention is often paid to children who get into trouble with the law of Cambodia. While many child offenders are sentenced to imprisonment and others detained in custody awaiting trial, more children continue becoming victims of abuses, trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. The victimized and abused children desperately need justice and are waiting for every one of us to help them.

As recognized under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Cambodian Constitution, children need special protection due to their physical and psychological vulnerabilities. More and more young girls are getting turned into victims of trafficking and sexual abuses, while an increasing number of young boys have come into conflict with the law or have been mistakenly accused of crimes. In this sense, the children have no choice but to suffer from these nightmares.

To deal with the current situation facing these children, pro bono legal aid with a focus on children is crucial to ensure that their rights are respected and protected and that they lead a happy life, grow at their own pace, and use all their potentials for national development.