Criminal Court of Thailand

Coordinates: 13°43′29″N 100°37′59″E / 13.7245995°N 100.6331106°E / 13.7245995; 100.6331106
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Criminal Court
ศาลอาญา
Chatuchak District, Bangkok
Coordinates13°43′29″N 100°37′59″E / 13.7245995°N 100.6331106°E / 13.7245995; 100.6331106
Authorised by
  • Statute of the Courts of Justice, 2543 BE (2000)
  • Criminal Code
  • Code of Criminal Procedure
Appeals toCourt of Appeal
WebsiteCrimc.coj.go.th
President
CurrentlySakchai Rangsiwong
Since1 October 2022
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The Criminal Court (

first instance responsible for the application of criminal law in Bangkok.[1] The court is located on Ratchadaphisek Road
and is colloquially called "Ratchada Criminal Court" (ศาลอาญารัชดาฯ).

Background

During

Rattanakosin Kingdom, the judicial service was part of the executive service. King Chulalongkorn later launched an administrative reform by which the courts competent to deal with criminal cases in Bangkok, that is, the Metropolitan Court (ศาลนครบาล) and the Outer Criminal Court (ศาลอาญานอก), were consolidated into a Royal Criminal Court (ศาลพระราชอาชญา). The Royal Criminal Court sat at the Military Registration Hall (หอสัสดี) within the Front Palace.[2]

In 1935, a Statute of the Courts of Justice was promulgated and renamed the Royal Criminal Court to the Criminal Court.

Chatuchak District.[2]

Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction ratione materiae

According to the Statute of the Courts of Justice, 2543 BE (2000), the Criminal Court has the jurisdiction ratione materiae (jurisdiction by reason of matters) over all criminal offences committed or believed to have been committed within its territory. However, these offences must be punishable by imprisonment for more than three years, a fine of more than sixty thousand baht or both.[3]

The offences liable to lower penalties fall within the jurisdiction of municipal courts.

Jurisdiction ratione tertiis

Under the Statute of the Courts of Justice, BE 2543 (2000), the Criminal Court has the jurisdiction ratione tertiis (jurisdiction by reason of territory) over sixteen districts of Bangkok:[3]

  1. Bang Kapi District
    ,
  2. Bang Khen District
    (Anusawari Subdistrict only),
  3. Bang Sue District
    ,
  4. Bueng Kum District
    ,
  5. Chatuchak District
    ,
  6. Din Daeng District
    ,
  7. Don Mueang District
    ,
  8. Dusit District
    ,
  9. Huai Khwang District
    ,
  10. Lak Si District
    ,
  11. Lat Phrao District
    (Lat Phrao Subdistrict only),
  12. Phaya Thai District
    ,
  13. Phra Nakhon District
    ,
  14. Ratchathewi District
    ,
  15. Sai Mai District
    (Khlong Thanon Subdistrict only), and
  16. Wang Thonglang District
    .

Under the Criminal Code, the Criminal Court and all other courts of criminal jurisdiction also have the jurisdiction ratione tertiis over all places outside Thailand, subject to the conditions set forth therein.[3][4]

Special jurisdiction

Although an offence is not committed within its territory, the Criminal Court is competent to handle the offence for the sake of convenience, if the offender resides, is domiciled or is arrested in one of the mentioned districts of Bangkok or if the inquiry is conducted therein.[3]

Moreover, the Statute of the Courts of Justice, 2543 BE (2000), allows any offence to be brought to the Criminal Court, even though it does not meet both the criteria of territory and the criteria of convenience. But the Criminal Court is competent to exercise its discretion as to whether it should accept to address such offence.[3]

Procedure

The procedural activities of the Criminal Court are mainly regulated by the Statute of the Courts of Justice, 2543 BE (2000), as well as the Code of Criminal Procedure. The Code of Criminal Procedure, section 15, states that if nothing in the code is applicable to any procedural activity, the Code of Civil Procedure applies thereto in so far as possible.[5]

The Statute of the Courts of Justice, 2543 BE (2000), section 2, defines the Criminal Court as a court of first instance and, section 26, requires that its quorum be constituted by at least two judges.[6] The Code of Criminal Procedure, section 184, prescribes that a decision of the court is based upon a majority of votes of the judges constituting the quorum. If such majority cannot be reached because there are two or more conflicting opinions amongst those judges, section 184 provides that the opinion most favourable to the defendant prevails.[5]

Pursuant to the Code of Criminal Procedure, section 193, the decisions of the Criminal Court can be appealed to the

court of second instance.[5]

Administration

Overview

The officers of the Criminal Court are divided into two types:

administrative officers. The judicial officers are formally called the "court of justice judicial officers" (ข้าราชการตุลาการศาลยุติธรรม) and the administrative officers, the "court of justice administrative officers" (ข้าราชการศาลยุติธรรม). The judicial officers deal with judicial affairs of the court, whilst the administrative officers handle administrative affairs of the court (providing support to the judicial affairs).[7]

Judicial service

Presidency

The judicial officers are led by the presidency of the court consisting of one judicial officer called "President of the Criminal Court" (อธิบดีผู้พิพากษาศาลอาญา) and another judicial officer called "Vice President of the Criminal Court" (รองอธิบดีผู้พิพากษาศาลอาญา). If necessary, the Statute of the Courts of Justice, 2543 BE (2000), allows the appointment of more than one but no more than three vice presidents.[6]

List of presidents of the court
# Name Tenure References
Romanised (RTGS) Thai Start End
Phraya
 Lekha Wanit Thamma Withak (Yian Lekhawanit) 		พระยาเลขวณิชธรรมวิทักษ์ (เหยียน เลขะวณิช) 31 January 1941 [8]
Luang
 Prasat Suppha Nit (Pramun Suwannason) 		หลวงประสาทศุภนิติ (ประมูล สุวรรณศร) 1 February 1941 [8]
Phra Manu Phan Wimon San (Manuphan Lilamian) พระมนูภันย์วิมลสาร (มนูภันย์ ห๎ลีละเมียร) 1 September 1944 31 October 1945 [9][10]
Phra Niti Kan Prasom (Sa-nguan Chaichanian) พระนิติการณ์ประสม (สงวน ชัยเฉนียน) 1 November 1945 30 September 1946 [10][11]
Phra Sara Nit Panya พระสารนิติปัญญา 1 October 1946 [11]
Thongchai Senamontri ธงชัย เสนามนตรี 1 October 2013 30 September 2014 [12][13]
Raengron Pariphonphotphisut แรงรณ ปริพนธ์พจนพิสุทธิ์ 1 October 2014 19 October 2016 [13]

Divisions

The judicial service of the court is divided into divisions (แผนก).

List of divisions of the court
# Name Date of establishment References
English Thai
1 General Criminal Division แผนกคดีอาญาทั่วไป [7]
2 Division for Corruption and Misconduct of State Authorities แผนกคดีทุจริตและประพฤติมิชอบของเจ้าหน้าที่ของรัฐ 13 June 2015 [14]
3 Human Trafficking Division แผนกคดีค้ามนุษย์ 13 June 2015 [15]
4 Narcotics Division แผนกคดียาเสพติด 13 June 2015 [16]

Each division consists of thirteen chambers (คณะ). Each chamber consists of at least two judges. Cases brought to the court are assigned to the responsible chambers. A judge of one chamber may also be a member of another chamber.[7]

Administrative service

The administrative officers of the Criminal Court are attached to the Criminal Court Administrative Office (สำนักอำนวยการประจำศาลอาญา). The office is led by one administrative officer called "Director of the Criminal Court Administrative Office" (ผู้อำนวยการสำนักอำนวยการประจำศาลอาญา) who is supervised by the Criminal Court presidency.[7]

The office is divided into six sections:[7]

  1. Assistant Section (ส่วนช่วยอำนวยการ),
  2. Financial Section (ส่วนคลัง),
  3. Public Relations Section (ส่วนบริการประชาชนและประชาสัมพันธ์),
  4. Case Management Section (ส่วนจัดการงานคดี),
  5. Proceedings Support Section (ส่วนช่วยพิจารณาคดี), and
  6. Dispute Settlement and Rights Protection Section (ส่วนไกล่เกลี่ยและประนอมข้อพิพาทและคุ้มครองสิทธิ).

Seal

The Criminal Court adopts as its seal the National Coat of Arms created in 1873 by King Chulalongkorn. The seal is affixed to all judgments and orders of the court.[17][18]

Cultural references

  • The Criminal Court is featured in a popular
    one-sided love towards a married woman but feels that his love is a crime. He then confesses before the Criminal Court, hoping that the court would give him light penalties as the adultery is just committed in mind.[19]
  • The bend of Ratchadaphisek Road opposite to the Criminal Court is a place with a large banyan tree and a spirit house, where car accidents often take place. It has been called the "Curve of Hundred Corpses".[20]

References

  1. ^ Information and Public Relations Division, Office of the Courts of Justice (n.d.). ศาลยุติธรรม [Courts of justice] (PDF) (in Thai). Bangkok: Office of the Court of Justice. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-08.
  2. ^ a b c d ประวัติศาลอาญา [History of the Criminal Court] (in Thai). n.d. Archived from the original on 2014-09-01. Retrieved 2014-06-15.
  3. ^ a b c d e เขตอำนาจศาล [Court's jurisdiction] (in Thai). Criminal Court. n.d. Archived from the original on 2014-09-01. Retrieved 2014-06-15.
  4. ^ ประมวลกฎหมายอาญา [Criminal Code] (in Thai). Council of State. 2014-03-25. Retrieved 2014-06-15.
  5. ^ a b c ประมวลกฎหมายวิธีพิจารณาความอาญา [Code of Criminal Procedure] (in Thai). Council of State. 2014-03-25. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  6. ^ a b พระธรรมนูญศาลยุติธรรม พ.ศ. 2543 [Statute of the Courts of Justice, 2543 BE (2000)] (in Thai). Council of State. 2013-05-25. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  7. ^ a b c d e การบริหารงานศาล [Court administration] (in Thai). Criminal Court. n.d. Archived from the original on 2014-09-01. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  8. ^
    Royal Thai Government Gazette (in Thai). 58. Bangkok: Cabinet Secretariat: 285–286. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on December 8, 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  9. Royal Thai Government Gazette (in Thai). 61 (55). Bangkok: Cabinet Secretariat: 1756–1757. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on December 8, 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  10. ^
    Royal Thai Government Gazette (in Thai). 62 (65). Bangkok: Cabinet Secretariat: 1628. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on December 8, 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  11. ^
    Royal Thai Government Gazette (in Thai). 63 (66). Bangkok: Cabinet Secretariat: 1487. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on December 8, 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  12. ^ อธิบดีผู้พิพากษาศาลอาญาพร้อมคณะผู้บริหารชุดใหม่เข้ารับตำแหน่ง [Criminal Court's new president and administrators take office]. Daily News (in Thai). 2013-10-01. Archived from the original on 2014-06-15. Retrieved 2014-06-15.
  13. ^
    Royal Thai Government Gazette (in Thai). 131 (Special 258 D). Bangkok: Cabinet Secretariat: 1–17. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on December 8, 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  14. Royal Thai Government Gazette (in Thai). 132 (51 A). Bangkok: Cabinet Secretariat: 25. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on December 8, 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  15. Royal Thai Government Gazette (in Thai). 132 (51 A). Bangkok: Cabinet Secretariat: 24. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on December 8, 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  16. Royal Thai Government Gazette (in Thai). 132 (51 A). Bangkok: Cabinet Secretariat: 26. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on December 8, 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  17. ^ Kanya Phutrakun, Rungnapha Rattanaprasoetsi (2008). พิพิธภัณฑ์ฯ สรรมาเล่า: ตราแผ่นดิน [Selected story by COJ Museum: National emblem] (PDF) (in Thai). Office of the Courts of Justice. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  18. ^ Kanya Phutrakun, Rungnapha Rattanaprasoetsi (2008). พิพิธภัณฑ์ฯ สรรมาเล่า: ตราแผ่นดิน (ต่อ) [Selected story by COJ Museum: National emblem (continued)] (PDF) (in Thai). Office of the Courts of Justice. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  19. ^ ชู้ทางใจ (in Thai). Kasetsart University. n.d. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  20. ^ นาเจริญ, นิธิศ (2015-01-19). รื้อศาลโค้ง100ศพปิดตำนานเฮี้ยนถนนรัชดาฯ. Komchadluek (in Thai). Retrieved 2017-09-22.

External links

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