Thai Constitutional Court

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The seal of the Thai Constitutional Court

The Constitutional Court of Thailand ( Thai ศาล รัฐธรรมนูญ , RTGS San Ratthathammanun ) is a formally independent court in Thailand . It was founded on October 1, 1997 and is responsible for constitutional issues. It has since made various controversial decisions that have had a massive impact on the political landscape of Thailand.

composition

The diagram shows the formation and composition of the Thai Constitutional Court according to the Thai constitution of 2007.

The Thai Constitutional Court consists of nine judges, including the President. Three are Supreme Court judges and two are Supreme Administrative Court judges. These are elected from among their own kind by the general assembly of judges of the respective panel.

According to the constitution , two further members should be qualified and experienced lawyers , and two further political , administrative or social scientists with special knowledge in state affairs. These four members of the Constitutional Court are selected by a five-member first electoral committee. This consists of the presidents of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court, the President of the House of Representatives , the parliamentary opposition leader and one of the chairmen of the independent constitutional organizations ( electoral commission , ombudsman, National Anti-Corruption Commission, Court of Auditors). The board elects the candidates in an open vote with a two-thirds majority. The list of candidates is then submitted to the Senate for approval. If this is available, the proposed candidates are appointed by the king. The rejection by the Senate can be overruled by a unanimous decision of the 1st electoral committee. Even then, the names of the candidates are submitted to the King for appointment. If there is no unanimous rejection, the selection process begins again - with a second electoral committee. The 2nd electoral committee consists of three judges from the Supreme Court and two judges from the Supreme Administrative Court. If the Senate also rejects the proposal of the 2nd Electoral Committee, the 2nd Electoral Committee can overrule the Senate by a majority decision. In the latter case, the Thai Constitutional Court is elected exclusively by judges from among their own kind.

Members:

  1. Wasan Soypisudh , President (since October 26, 2011)
  2. Jaran Pukditanakul
  3. Charoon Intachan
  4. Chalermpon Ake-uru
  5. Chut Chonlavorn (former President)
  6. Nurak Marpraneet
  7. Boonsong Kulbupar
  8. Suphot Khaimuk
  9. Udomsak Nitimontree

Responsibilities

The Constitutional Court is responsible for the following six areas:

  1. the constitutionality of parliamentary work
  2. the constitutionality of royal edicts
  3. the authority over mechanisms of the constitution
  4. the appointment and dismissal of government officials
  5. Cases involving political parties
  6. the constitutionality of the draft laws.

From 1998 to October 10, 2002, the Constitutional Court issued judgments in 237 cases. Of these, 56 percent concerned the constitutionality of laws and a further 27 percent concerned political parties and government officials.

Powers

Under the 2007 Constitution, the Constitutional Court has extensive additional powers. It is allowed to control the political parties, remove members of parliament and ministers from office, and confirm the expulsion of members of the electoral commission. The organic laws of the most important political institutions and attacks against emergency ordinances require the approval of the Constitutional Court. The President of the Constitutional Court is an ex officio member of the committee that appoints the 74 senators who are appointed and not elected.

decisions

The former seat of the Constitutional Court at Rattanathibet Mansion number 326
date decision Judgment No.
Constitutional Court under the 1997 Constitution
July 14, 1998 The Constitutional Court ruled that disputes concerning political parties can be finally decided by the electoral commission of Thailand and are not subject to review by the ordinary courts. The occasion was a dispute over competence between the electoral commission and the Supreme Court over the conflict between the party leadership of the Thai Civic Party and the inner-party "Kobra Wing". 3/2541
August 3, 2001 With 8 to 7 judges, the Constitutional Court rejected an application by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to exclude the newly elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from political office. The NACC had accused Thaksin of concealing assets during his tenure as Deputy Prime Minister (1997-98). 20/2544
May 8, 2006 The 2006 parliamentary elections, including the by-elections, were declared unconstitutional and therefore null and void by the Constitutional Court due to various procedural errors. New elections were set for October 15, 2006. 9/2549
“Constitutional Tribunal” under the 2006 Interim Constitution
May 30, 2007 The constitutional tribunal set up after the 2006 coup ordered the dissolution of the Thai-Rak-Thai Party (TRT) for violations during the canceled parliamentary elections in 2006 and the exclusion of party founder Thaksin Shinawatra and 111 other party officials from political life for a period of five years. The opposition Democratic Party, against which allegations of electoral violations were also made, acquitted it unanimously. 3-5 / 2550
Constitutional Court under the 2007 Constitution
September 9, 2008 The Constitutional Court ruled that Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej should be removed from office because he was employed as a television cook for a private television broadcaster, which, under the Constitution, was inconsistent with the post of Prime Minister. 12-13 / 2551
December 2, 2008 The Constitutional Court ordered the dissolution of the ruling People's Power Party (PPP), the Neutral Democratic Party and the Chart Thai Party for election fraud. Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat and other leading members of the PPP were banned from political activity for five years. Somchai then announced his resignation, but announced the re-establishment of the PPP under a new name with the aim of allowing the movement to continue to form the government.
The drastic means of banning parties because of comparatively minor violations by a few responsible persons was described by several observers as the "coup of the judges". 		20/2551
November 2010 The Constitutional Court decided with four to two votes not to pursue a lawsuit against the Democratic Party for embezzlement of funds from the Electoral Commission in 2005. The court named formal errors as reasons.
July 13, 2012 The Constitutional Court rejected a complaint by the Democratic Party against the ruling party Pheu Thai . The plaintiffs feared that an abolition of the constitutional monarchy would be planned as part of a constitutional reform that had already been announced , and brought about a temporary halt to parliamentary work on the subject. The court overturned this and specified that a referendum would be necessary for a complete change to the constitution. To deliver the verdict, the judicial building was surrounded by several hundred security guards for fear of outbreaks of violence, and the eight constitutional judges involved were under police protection before the verdict.
20th November 2013 The court denied a motion to dissolve the ruling Pheu Thai party. The reason for the motion was the party's attempt to change the constitution in such a way that the members of the Senate are determined exclusively through elections. A commission consisting of the chairmen of the Constitutional Court, the Electoral Commission , the Ombudsman, the National Anti-Corruption Commission, the Court of Auditors and one judge each from the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court appoints 74 of the 150 senators.
January 24, 2014 In the course of the protests in Thailand in 2013/2014 , the Constitutional Court decided unanimously that the election commission was entitled to postpone an election date set by the government under Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to February 2, 2014.
12th of February 2014 The Constitutional Court rejected a request from the Democratic Party to annul the parliamentary elections held during the protests that have been taking place since October 2013 . The submitted petition was not sufficiently justified.
March 21, 2014 The Constitutional Court annulled the results of the parliamentary elections on February 2nd (by-elections on March 2nd) 2014 with six to three votes . The reason given was that not all districts voted on the same day.
May 7, 2014 Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and nine of her cabinet members, including Foreign Minister Chalerm Yubamrung , Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong and Labor Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul , were found guilty of constitutional breach and dismissed by the Constitutional Court. The charges brought by 27 senators related to the dismissal of the head of the National Security Council, Thawil Pliensri , in 2011. Supporters of the government and commentators again spoke of a “judicial coup”.

See also

literature

  • Björn Dressel: Thailand. Judicialization of politics or politicization of the judiciary? In: The Judicialization of Politics in Asia. Routledge, Oxford / New York 2012, pp. 79–97.
  • Tom Ginsburg: The Politics of Courts in Democratization. Four Junctures in Asia. In: Consequential Courts. Judicial Roles in Global Perspective. Cambridge University Press, New York 2013, pp. 45-66, especially pp. 58-60.
  • Andrew Harding: The Constitutional Court of Thailand, 1998-2006. A Turbulent Innovation. In: New Courts in Asia. Routledge, Oxford / New York 2010.
  • Andrew Harding, Peter Leyland: The Constitutional Courts of Thailand and Indonesia. Two Case Studies from South East Asia. In: Constitutional Courts. A Comparative Study. Wildy, Simmonds and Hill, London 2009, pp. 317-341.
  • Amara Raksasataya, James R. Klein (Ed.): The Constitutional Court of Thailand. The provisions and the working of the court. Constitution for the People Society, Bangkok 2003.
  • Banjerd Singkaneti: The Thai constitutional tribunal in comparison with the German constitutional jurisdiction . Peter Lang, 1998.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Section 204, Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand 2007 ( Memento of the original from May 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.asianlii.org
  2. ↑ Section 206, Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand 2007 ( Memento of the original from May 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.asianlii.org
  3. ^ Members of the Constitutional Court , official website of the Constitutional Court
  4. ↑ Short biography of Wasan Soypisudh , official website of the Constitutional Court
  5. ↑ James R. Klein: The Battle for Rule of Law in Thailand: The Constitutional Court of Thailand (PDF; 65.43 kB). 2003
  6. ↑ Tom Ginsburg: Constitutional Afterlife: The Continuing Impact of Thailand's Post-Political Constitution (November 25, 2008). In: International Journal of Constitutional Law. January 2009; Univ. of Chicago, Public Law Working Paper No. 252; Center on Law and Globalization Research Paper No. 09-04
  7. ↑ Klein: The Battle for Rule of Law in Thailand. 2003, p. 53
  8. ↑ Klein: The Battle for Rule of Law in Thailand. 2003, p. 71
  9. ^ Bye Bye Thai Rak Thai. In: Pratu Namo. May 31, 2007
  10. ^ Dressel: Thailand. Judicialization of politics or politicization of the judiciary? 2012, pp. 87-88
  11. ↑ Kittisak Prokati: Remarks on ruling of the Thai Constitutional Court No. 12-13 / 2551 ("Cookery Show"). In: European-Asian Journal of Law and Governance. Vol. 1, pp. 123-132.
  12. ↑ Manfred Rist: Head of Government as an illegal TV cook. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . September 9, 2008, accessed September 13, 2008
  13. ↑ Thailand's government leaves - to come back. In: The world . December 2, 2008
  14. ↑ Federico Ferrara: Thailand Unhinged. Unraveling the Myth of a Thai-style Democracy. Equinox, Singapore 2010, p. 59.
  15. ↑ Thailand expert on PPP ban. “A conflict of the power elites”. Interview with Wolfram Schaffar. In: taz.de . December 3, 2008
  16. ^ Press comments - "Putsch der Richter". In: DiePresse.com . December 4, 2008
  17. ↑ Nicola Glass: Forbearance with the ruling party. In: the daily newspaper . November 29, 2010, accessed December 1, 2010
  18. ↑ Marco Kauffmann Bossart: Yingluck can breathe easy. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . July 13, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2012
  19. ↑ Thailand's constitutional court rejects dissolution of the ruling party. In: derStandard.at . 20th November 2013
  20. ↑ Part 3, Sections 111–114, Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand 2007 ( Memento of the original from May 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.asianlii.org
  21. ↑ Election date in Thailand before postponement. In: derStandard.at. January 24, 2014
  22. ↑ Election in Thailand will not be canceled. In: ORF.at. 12th of February 2014.
  23. ↑ Parliamentary election in Thailand declared invalid. In: Deutsche Welle . March 21, 2014
  24. ↑ Supreme Court declares February election in Thailand invalid. In: derStandard.at. March 21, 2014
  25. ^ Announcement of the verdict on TV. In: ORF.at. May 7, 2014
  26. ↑ Marco Kauffmann Bossart: Prime Minister Yingluck deposed. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , May 7, 2014