Criminal Case Rights of Thai Monks
Abstract
This research on the criminal case rights of Thai monks aims to study state-related rights and duties of Buddhist monks as appeared in the Tripitaka, the Commentaries, the Sub-commentaries, the Sub-sub-commentaries and related documents and to study the criminal cases rights of Thai monks as appeared in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, B.E. 2560 (2017), the Sangha Act, B.E. 2505 (1962), the Sangha Act (No. 2), B.E. 2535 (1992) and related laws as well as suggesting guidelines for protecting the rights of Thai monks in criminal cases.
The study found that regarding the state-related rights and duties of Buddhist monks, the monks had the rights and duties as a Buddhism monk to study the discipline and behave according to the principles of Threefold Training and Discipline to achieve the highest goal in Buddhism. The monk rights and duties were part of the state citizens duties to obey the law and contribute to the development of citizens according to the state requirement. Regarding the criminal case rights of Thai monks, it was found that the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, B.E. 2560 (2017) provided the protection of rights and freedoms of the state citizens including the monks.
The author suggests the guidelines for protecting the rights of Thai monks in criminal cases as follows. The authority of investigating officer to force an accused monk to leave the monkhood should be rejected. However, such enforcement authority should belong to a clergy of Sangha. A specific place should be established for detention of monks charged with criminal offenses and bail rejected by the investigating officer and the prosecutor. In case enforcing a monk to leave the monkhood without the gravest transgression of the rules, according to the Vinaya discipline, an accused monk should have the right to leave the monkhood and speak the word “leave the monkhood” willingly.
References
Kiatkajorn Watjanasawad. Description of Criminal Laws, Part 1. 9th Edition, Bangkok: Jirawat Printing, 2006.
Committee on the Study of the Constitutional Amendment Guidelines Office of the Secretariat of the House of Representatives. Guidelines for Amending the Constitution on Rights, Liberties and Duties of Thai People. Bangkok: Office of the Secretariat of the House of Representatives, 2006.
Daraphorn Thirawat. Contract Law : New Status of Current Contracts and Problems of Unfair Contract Terms. Bangkok : Thammasat University Printing House, 1999.
Banjerd Singkaneti. Fundamentals of Rights and Liberties and Human Dignity according to the Constitution, B.E. 2540 (1997), 2nd Edition. Bangkok: Winyuchon, (2004).
Banjerd Singkaneti. Fundamentals of Rights and Liberties and Human Dignity. (Bangkok: Winyuchon, 2005.
Criminal Procedure Code
Criminal Procedure Code, B.E. 2478 (1935), as amended (No. 34), B.E. 2562 (2019)
Sangha Act, B.E. 2505 (1962)
Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, B.E. 2560 (2017)
Sangha Act (No. 2), B.E. 2535 (1992)
Somchai Boonkongmak and Phuphanat Rattanachai. “The Problem of Leaving the Monkhood under the Sangha Act, B.E. 2505 (1962): A Case Study of the Exercise of Discretion of Government Officials in the Judicial Process.” Journal of Humanities and Society Science, Royal Air Force 6, (2018): 53.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Law and Local Society Journal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Articles published are copyright of local law and society journals. Faculty of Law Surat Thani Rajabhat University
Content and information in articles published in local law and society journals It is the opinion and responsibility of the author of the article directly. which the journal editor It is not necessary to agree or share any responsibility for articles, information, content, images, etc. published in local law and society journals. It is the copyright of the local jurisprudence journal. If any person or entity wants to distribute all or part of it or to take any action must have prior written permission from the local jurisprudence journal only.
