After earning a master's degree in political science from the Royal University of Law and Economics in 1965, Say Bory was appointed vice-governor of the Province of Siem Reap.
[9] On September 2, 1998, Say Bory was one of the main authors of a scathing report from within the Constitutional Council that surfaced in King Norodom Sihanouk's monthly bulletin adding weight to the opposition's accusations that the nation's top legal body is biased toward the Cambodian People's Party.
[10] In fact, a mechanism for judicial review was guaranteed under the 1993 Constitution by the establishment of a Constitutional Council, but the controversial context in which the relevant law was adopted and the council established led to general allegations of a lack of credibility of the body:[11] In 2001, Say Borin was critical of a ban on meetings concerning the border dispute between Vietnam and Cambodia suggesting that "Cambodia has no freedom of expression".
He has continued to express strong political opinions albeit acknowledging when he was secretary of state for relations with Parliament that "opposing Hun Sen's policies puts your life at risk".
[16] Say Bory has been intent on providing legal training to Cambodians to raise their political awareness, since coming back to Cambodia in 1992, teaching at the university, doing radio shows, and organizing seminars in the provinces:[17] “We want to strengthen knowledge quality capacity on the sub-national level, so intellectuals will go down to help on a volunteer basis”Say Bory is the father of Say Tevi, one of France’s most famous female Mixed Martial Arts fighters [18]