Lawyers Agree to Help Farmers Over Rice
The Lawyers Council of Thailand has agreed to help farmers sue the government for payment delays under the government’s rice-pledging scheme reports The Bangkok Post.
The rice pledging scheme was a promise made by the governing Pheua Thai party during the election campaign two years ago and involved buying the entire rice crop at a fixed price – and as a result the government has accumulated a large stockpile, which if sold at today’s prices, would incur a loss.
The council and the farmers are also considering filing a criminal suit against those involved in the implementation of the scheme for fraud and violating Section 84 of the constitution that supports free and fair economic systems.
Joe Leeds, manager of Thailand criminal law firm, Chaninat & Leeds explains, “The government should have been a sole defendant in this third civil case but unlike in the US legal system, the Thai government is not considered a juristic person”. Therefore the farmers are suing the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Co-operatives (BAAC), the caretaker ministers involved in the rice scheme.
Read the full story here.
Flickr photo credit: epoSos.de
