The code of conduct in Cambodia, published by the Inter-parliamentary Union in its report on the Cambodian elections in 1993, has a peculiar nature, as it was incorporated into the Electoral Law itself by the Cambodian Parliament.
At the time it was adopted by the parties competing in the elections, its contents were typical of a code elaborated in the framework of an electoral process with international assistance: a declaration on the obligation of the parties and all the subjects that took part in the process one way or another, to keep to its rules and to the electoral regulations as a whole; a declaration on the right to free and fair elections and the obligation to respect the freedom of the rest of the parties and a set of elaborated rules of conduct: some that forbid intimidating behaviour and the use of weapons, establishing rules to avoid any verbal incident, interference or restriction of liberty regarding public events or protest marches by any party; others establishing compulsory communications systems, co-operation and mediation among the parties and with the international observers, to avoid, settle or resolve incidents or conflicts of any kind among the contenders.
However, before it was incorporated into the electoral law, there was no way that this code could have been considered as a legal regulation, as it lacked essential elements for such a description: it was a non-public agreement among subjects and was devoid of the power to dictate or enact laws. Likewise, it lacked the legal consequence in case of non-compliance therewith, imposed by the legal system itself.
Its incorporation into the electoral law converts the rules of the code into legally established obligations, backed by the penal consequences envisaged in the Cambodian legal system, should it not be observed. This is an example of legislative crystallisation, by which a set of rules initially agreed upon among private subjects (although within the framework of an electoral process of evident public relevance), whose compulsory nature is derived from the commitment by the subjects that entered into the agreement, is converted into legal rules whose compulsory nature is derived from this feature.
