Changes in the death penalty in the Royal Decree of Pardon

Abstract

In the past, Thailand pardoned inmates to prisoners convicted of offenses all along on an auspicious occasion of the King. By granting a pardon, it may be a release to prisoners, reducing or exerting penalties on criminal offenders. Prisoners who were sentenced to death were able to receive an unlimited number of times for the pardon, because there are no terms for the Royal Decree of Pardon. Recently, the Royal Decree of Pardon B.E. 2562 endorsed on the occasion of the auspicious royal ceremony and the Royal Decree of Amnesty B.E. 2562 issued on the occasion of the royal birthday of His Majesty the King were declared and stated on the Section 13 (1) to limit the right of prisoners who are subjected to death penalty for the Royal Decree of Pardon permission. This article aims to study the change in the Royal Decree of Pardon on the related parts to the death penalty and study the effect on inmates who are with death sentence and get the benefit from good behaviors based on Department of Corrections. From the study, it was found that change in the death penalty by the recent Royal Decree results in no chance for the inmates with death sentence to receive another Royal Decree of Pardon, making the inmates under the death penalty turn to be under life sentence with longer imprisonment. The inmates cannot be released from prison prior to the prescribed punishment, as generally reported in Thailand. In addition, such changes are related to the compensation of good behavior inmates for a parole and remission of sentence. Considering the prisoners with death sentence, they can still be eligible for a parole and remission after being granted with the Royal Decree of Pardon based on the criteria of the Department of Corrections. Therefore, for more effective and efficient justice process by the Royal Decree of Pardon and the appropriate penalty to the offense, the amendment of the Criminal Procedure Code in connection with amnesty must be further accomplished.