THE RIGHT TO SUBMIT A PETITION TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF THAILAND SYSTEM IN CASE OF ACTS THAT VIOLATE RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES GUARANTEED BY THE CONSTITUTION

Abstract

The purpose of this article aims at studying the problems, the concepts, the procedures and the systems of rights to submission to the Constitutional Court for acts that violate constitutional rights and freedoms system according to the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand (B.E. 2560), section 213, and the Organic Act on Procedures of the Constitutional Court B.E. 2561. The matter of study is compared to the country which principle of the right has been developed. The result of study is that this right has four problems : (1) the system of submitting rights that overlaps between the rights of the Ombudsman and individual and the object of the case that overlaps in case of the provisions of the law ; (2) the Ombudsman's screening system that lacks the criteria for classifying cases under the implementation of the articles 213 and 231 (1) of Constitution B.E. 2560 and the screening under the excemption of Article 47 of the Constitutional Act on the Procedure of the Constitutional Court B.E. 2561. (3) the structural and procedural system that the number of justices are not consistent with the authority and duties under section 213 of the Constitution B.E. 2560 and the judicial procedures of the Constitutional Court, which has not yet prescibed a specific procedure for this case. (4) the interpretation of Constitutional Court that tend to remedy the rights of the individual but result from ruling that extend jurisdiction and inconsistent with the legal system and jurisdiction of other courts, and (5) the system of right to submit a petition to defend rights and liberties to the courts in parallel system which causes delays in justice and uncertainty whether the rights and liberties will be protected and conformed, as well as the judgment of various courts that may conflict each other. This article proposes to improve the system for the right in 4 ways : (1) prescribing the discretion to submit petitions to constitutional organs if there are acts that are contrary to the Constitution and violate the rights of the people that should be considered by the Constitutional Court. (2) setting conditions for receiving petitions only in cases that are important for formulating the fundamental principle for the necessary interpretation of the Constitution or laying the guidelines for the implementation of state organs in accordance with the Constitution. (3) applying the screening cases mechanism by relying on the affirmation system from the panel of the Constitutional Court or persons holding positions in the independent organs that implements the remedy for damages. and (4) improving the qualifications of the Ombudsman with knowledge and experience related to the protection of rights and liberties or the public law in accord with the role of screening and developing constitutional principles and public law from the Ombudsman's adjudication duties.