Criminal Court of Thailand

Background

During Sukhothai Kingdom, Ayutthaya Kingdom and the initial period of 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.

In 1935, a Statute of the Courts of Justce was promulgated and renamed the Royal Criminal Court to the Criminal Court. In 1941, the Criminal Court moved its seat to a building newly constructed on Rachini Road near the Petty Crimes Division (กองลหุโทษ) of the Corrections Department, the Ministry of Justice, in Phra Nakhon District. On 25 March 1992, the Criminal Court again moved to a new building on Ratchadaphisek Road in Chatuchak District.

Jurisdiction ratione materiae

According to the Statute of the Courts of Justice, BE 2543 (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.

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:

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.

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.

Moreover, the Statute of the Courts of Justice, BE 2543 (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.

Procedure

The procedural activities of the Criminal Court are mainly regulated by the Statute of the Courts of Justice, BE 2543 (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.

The Statute of the Courts of Justice, BE 2543 (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. 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.

Pursuant to the Code of Criminal Procedure, section 193, the decisions of the Criminal Court can be appealed to the Court of Appeal which is a court of second instance.

Overview

The officers of the Criminal Court are divided into two types: judicial officers and 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).

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, BE 2543 (2000), allows the appointment of more than one but no more than three vice presidents.

Divisions

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

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.

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.

The office is divided into six sections:

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.