Problems in Determination of Criminal Punishment for Less Serious Offenses: A Study of Acts with Criminal Punishment in Thai Law

Abstract

This article is aimed at investigation of the problem of criminal punishment determination for less serious offenses based on the Act with criminal punishment under Thai

law. From the results, it was indicated that several acts with criminal punishment in Thailand have been enforced with both fines and prison sentence. In 2017, the section 77, paragraph 3 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand stated the principles of criminal punishment determination. Also in 2019, the Act on Legislative Drafting and Evaluation of Outcomes of Law B.E. 2562 (2019) was permitted. However, the issues on the determination of criminal punishment for less offenses were not well resolved.

            Data was gathered from documents, textbooks, theses, and laws including articles relating to the determination of guilt and criminal punishment for serious offenses in Thailand. International comparative legal analysis was made with the law of France and Italy where the principles of serious offense categorization are explicit. The findings were subsequently compared to the principles of criminal punishment determination for serious offenses in Thailand.

            From the results of this study, it was found that the principles for grading definition was employed in France. If a crime is with the threshold on the defined grade,       it is considered a serious offense. In Italy, the principle of damage category was established as a framework for lawmaker's discretion. If the offense resulted in the damage according to the definition of the framework,      it will be deemed to be of a serious nature to which the criminal penalty is applied. In contrast, no clear legal definition of principles for serious offenses is established in Thailand. The definition by the advice from Law Reform Commission of Thailand in 2019 is applicable and consists of the existing principles. However, it will be enforced only after the new law is legislated. This causes the problem in criminal penalty consideration for offenses in the non-serious category based on the Act. Therefore, the investigation is indicated that Thailand should establish a clearer framework or definition for serious offenses and conduct a study of the Thai Criminal Code in order to allow proper application of criminal penalty for offenses.