The judiciary of Thailand (; ) is composed of four distinct systems: the Court of Justice, the

Administrative Court An administrative court is a type of specialized court on administrative law, particularly disputes concerning the exercise of public power. Their role is to ascertain that official acts are consistent with the law. Such courts are usually co ...

, military courts, and the Constitutional Court of Thailand. The current judicial system is organized in accordance with the

2007 Constitution of Thailand The ''Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, Buddhist Era 2550 (2007)'' (; ) was the constitution of Thailand which was in effect from 2007 to 2014. On 19 September 2006, the Royal Thai Armed Forces staged a 2006 Thai coup d'état, coup d'é ...

. The

Asian Human Rights Commission The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is an independent, Non-governmental organization, non-governmental body that promotes human rights in Asia and mobilizes Asian and international public opinion to obtain relief and redress for the victims ...

has called the Thai legal system a "mess" and called for a drastic overhaul of Thailand's criminal procedures. It cited the rampant use of

forced confession A forced confession is a confession obtained from a suspect or a prisoner by means of torture (including enhanced interrogation techniques) or other forms of duress. Depending on the level of coercion used, a forced confession is not valid in rev ...

s, and the fact that even a senior justice ministry official admitted that 30 percent of cases went to court with no

evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports the proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the proposition is truth, true. The exact definition and role of evidence vary across different fields. In epistemology, evidence is what J ...

. No stenographic records are made by the trial court and the record is composed of what the judges decide. It also criticized the judiciary for failing to ensure that trials are conducted speedily. Research judges assist the sitting judges. Judges must take an examination and two different examinations are given: one exam is for judges trained in Thailand and a different examination is given for judges who graduate from foreign law schools. All judges are formally appointed by the king.

Courts of Justice

The Courts of Justice of Thailand (ศาลยุติธรรม) is the largest of the court systems and makes up the majority of courts in the kingdom. The courts as mandated in the constitution consists of three tiers: the court of first instance (ศาลชั้นต้น), the court of appeals (ศาลอุทธรณ์), and the court of last resort, that is, the Supreme Court of Thailand (ศาลฎีกา). The current president of the Supreme Court of Justice is Veerapol Tungsuwan.

Administrative courts

The administrative court system (ศาลปกครอง) is composed of two tiers: The administrative courts of first instance (ศาลปกครองชั้นต้น) and the administrative court of last resort, that is, the Supreme Administrative Court (ศาลปกครองสูงสุด). The court system was first created in 1997, the court's main jurisdiction is to settle litigation between the state or an organ of state (government ministries, departments, and independent agencies) and private citizens.

Civil vs criminal

The

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

is considering adjusting the definition of certain criminal offences so they are punishable by administrative penalties rather than criminal imprisonment. The high number of criminal cases are overwhelming the court system and overcrowding jails nationwide. Thailand reportedly ranked sixth in the world in terms of the number of criminal suspects in the judicial process, about 300,000 persons. The state reportedly spends about 100,000

baht The baht (; , ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). Prior to decimalisation, the baht was divided into eight ''fueang'' (, ), each of eight ''at'' (, ). The ...

per criminal case — including the wages of police, judges and related officials — and only 6,000 baht per civil lawsuit, according to a study by Thailand Development Research Institute. While serious crimes such as theft and murder would still be subject to criminal prosecution, other offences, such as those involving cheque payments or copyright infringement, could be punished by administrative penalties to unburden the criminal court system.

Constitutional Court

First set up in 1997, the Constitutional Court of Thailand (ศาลรัฐธรรมนูญ) was created solely as a high court to settle matters pertaining to the constitution. The court has since accumulated huge amounts of power and influence in the wake of the 2006 and 2014 military coups and the constitutions they created, engaging in what critics of the court call political coups, ousting prime ministers from office, and climaxing in a ruling in 2013 that parliament could not amend the constitution according to its terms to elect all senators because that would violate the court's definition of a "democratic regime". In May 2014, the Constitutional Court ruled that the Thai prime minister and nine other cabinet ministers had to resign due to malfeasance. Questions have been raised not only over the court's increasing power over this matter, but why the Supreme Court, which apparently has jurisdiction in such cases, did not adjudicate. There have been repeated calls for reform or outright elimination of the court because of its politicization.

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