ABSTRACT
The current Constitution of Cambodia of 1993 is the fifth constitution since the first written constitution was adopted in 1947. No country's constitutional system can be understood without some knowledge of its historical background. The Angkor Empire was plagued not only by external, but also by internal violent power struggles, assassinations and violent regime change. The French takeover has been labelled as "gun boat diplomacy", not escalating in actual violence, but probably not without coercion. A Constituent Assembly to advise the king on the Constitution was elected in a general election in 1946, the first democratic election ever held in Cambodia. Constitution making in Cambodia was requested to be a comparatively quick affair in 1993 as the Paris Agreements required adoption of the constitution within three months after the election of the Constitutional Assembly. The bi-cameral Cambodian parliament consists of a National Assembly and Senate.
