East-West Management Institute

EWMI NEWS:
SEPTEMBER 2009
CREATING DEMAND FOR A HIGH QUALITY JUDICIAL SYSTEM IN CAMBODIA

Following the success and popularity of last year’s Scales of Justice TV drama, the East-West Management Institute (EWMI) provided the Women’s Media Center (WMC), an NGO based in Phnom Penh, with a grant to create a new installment of the entertaining television series designed to educate Cambodians about their legal system.

The fictional six-part drama, Scales of Justice 2, aired on three different channels in Cambodia (CTN, TVK, and TV3) from August 22, 2009 through September 26, 2009. The new storylines continued to follow the ongoing saga of lawyer Pich Sotheary and police officer Meas Chamnan and demonstrated how Cambodians can use the courts to resolve problems they encounter in daily life, including property disputes and domestic violence. By depicting how an ideal legal system would operate without problems like graft and corruption, EWMI and WMC hope the popularity of the Scales of Justice series will create demand for such a system among the Cambodian public.

Many of the episodes featured situations that may be familiar to audience members who have ever battled their brethren over money. One episode followed characters as they tried desperately to gain control of an inheritance following the death of the family patriarch. Another episode also featured a family fight over money, but this time the characters were faced with dividing an inheritance after a messy divorce.

Along with court officials from Phnom Penh and Kandal province, EWMI legal experts provided technical advice on the scripts and during filming to keep the legal scenarios rooted in reality and help lend an air of credibility to the drama. The producers even opted to film in real courtrooms, judges' chambers and prosecutors' offices rather than on movie sets.

Scales of Justice 2 has received widespread acclaim as well as high ratings. In response to another successful season, an additional installment is planned for August 2010.

WMC hopes that making a law-based drama will help Cambodians to engage with the subject