THAILAND'S
LEGAL SYSTEM: REQUIREMENTS, PRACTICE, AND ETHICAL CONDUCT
By
Charunun Sathitsuksomboon
Once
candidates are recruited, they are required to undergo training as judge-trainees
for at least one year. After completion of training and if results are
satisfactory, a judge-trainee will be approved by the Judicial Service
Commission, and tendered to the King for royal appointment to be a judge
attach to the court.(19)
The
ways in which a judge can be terminated are as follows:
(1) |
death. |
(2) |
resignation. |
(3) |
vacating
the office under law on government pension fund. |
(4) |
transfer
to serve in a position as a government official, and not in a judicial
position. |
(5) |
resignation
for military service. |
(6) |
being formally
instructed to resign. |
(7) |
being expelled,
dismissed, or removed from office. |
(8) |
the Senate
passes a resolution for removal from office.(20) |
C.
Public Prosecutors: Membership, Requirements and Regulations
A
public prosecutor is an official under the Office of the Attorney-General
and is governed by the Regulation of Public Prosecutor Officers Act
B.E. 2521 (A.D. 1978). The Office of the Attorney-General, formerly
called the Public Prosecutor Department, was separated from the Ministry
of Interior and became a state agency under the direct supervision of
the Prime Minister in 1991 to make the Office free from outside influence
and interference. The public prosecutor is responsible for bringing
criminal prosecution on behalf of the government and represents the
government in civil cases where the government is a party to the proceedings.
There are eight levels of positions, ranging from public prosecutor-trainee
to Attorney-General. The Public Prosecutor Commission(21) is the governing body responsible for the appointment, promotion, transfer,
and removal of public prosecutors and exercises disciplinary powers
over them. Most of the qualifications required in order to become a
public prosecutor, as well as the public prosecutor governing body,
and the removal process of the public prosecutor are generally similar
to those of judges.
Part
7
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(19)
The Judicial System in Thailand: An Outlook for a New Century, page
50 of Chapter Four: Personnel in the Machinery of Justice. This book
is a joint undertaking between the Central Intellectual Property and
International Trade Court in Thailand and the Institute of Developing
Economies (JETRO-IDE) of Japan.
(20)
Section 32 of the Regulation of the Judicial Service Act B.E. 2543 (AD
2000).
(21)
Under Section 15 of the Regulation of Public Prosecutor Officers Act
B.E. 2521 (AD 1978), the Public Prosecutor Commission consists of the
following persons:
(1) |
a
president selected from a retired official, who has, in the past,
served in a position not lower than Deputy Attorney General, or
Attorney-General, or a qualified person in a field of laws, who
is a retired official and has served, in the past, in a position
not lower than Director or its equivalent. However, a person who
will be selected as a president must have never been either a
member or an official of a political party in the past 10 years,
or political official, a member of the House of Representative
or the Senate, or a lawyer; |
(2) |
the
Attorney General, as a Vice-President; |
(3) |
a
Deputy Attorney General, a Special Prosecutor in advisory division,
a Special Prosecutor in litigious division, a Special Prosecutor
in legal affairs division, as ex-officio member; |
(4) |
six
qualified members elected by the public prosecutor being the official
at the second level or more. |