Laws and regulations

Abortion is a global health issue, impacting individuals and families regardless of ethnicity, income, social status or nationality. Yet there is no worldwide legal standard for the practice of terminating a pregnancy. Lawmakers and governments hold sway over access to abortion, or its abolition. In the ...

Lao Minister of Energy and Mines, Mr. Daovong Phonekeo, says enacting a specific law to ensure dam safety is a vital part of the country’s efforts to achieve sustainable energy development. Minister Daovong told the National Assembly on Thursday that while there are regulations and standards controlling ...

Two U.S. lawmakers are urging Thailand to drop provisions of a draft bill restricting NGOs, saying it would harm civil society and negatively impact the delivery of humanitarian assistance to neighboring Myanmar.  Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha’s government is seeking to pass a controversial bill regulating not-for-profit ...

A recently promulgated update to a 2003 law on investment is redefining incentives for more than a dozen business sectors. This is only the Kingdom’s second investment law and it expands the range of environmentally focused organisations eligible for incentives. The list of eligible business sectors ...

Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said access to knowledge is indispensable in a democratic society and expressed hope that people will soon be able to have more confidence when choosing their leaders once the new draft law on information access is passed. “Universal access to information ...

The government has drawn up a “Draft Law on Social Protection System” to ensure minimum standards of well-being and reduce economic and financial vulnerabilities. The draft law is designed to strengthen the income security of the people and promote social equality through the creation and management ...

In 2015, two years before the state-driven collapse of Cambodia’s political opposition, the national government dominated by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) approved the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organisations (LANGO). When the law was first put forward in 2011, it was met with significant opposition, ...

Vietnam’s National Assembly Tuesday amended the country’s environmental protection law to give communities a bigger role in conservation and impose responsibilities on corporations, but critics say monitoring mechanisms in the country are not adequate to enforce it. Lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the Revised Law on Environmental Protection, ...

Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on Friday said that sea grass, coral reefs and undersea rock formations in Thailand’s four southern coastal provinces are now legally protected. The ministry warned that violators found to disrupt the protected sea treasures will face one-year in prison ...

Alcohol is now banned at national parks after tourists allegedly got drunk at a waterfall and others left a load of trash by their campsite. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation has updated other park rules to make sure parks are kept ...