The Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) plans to retain the death penalty for violent criminals and make the Appeals Court the final arbiter of general legal cases to relieve the burden on the Supreme Court, committee spokesman Lertrat Rattanawanit said on Wednesday.
Activists demanded the death penalty for rapists in Bangkok after the rape and murder of a teenage girl on a Bangkok-bound train in July. (Photo by Apichit Jinakul)
Gen Lertrat said the majority of members on a sub-committee on civil liberties proposed a complete end to the death penalty in all legal cases, but most members of the full CDC felt it should continue to exist for serious crime such as narcotics dealing, rape and serial killing.
CDC chairman Borwornsak Uwanno ordered an opinion survey on the death penalty.
The CDC also considered a proposal from another sub-committee on the justice system. The sub-committee proposed to maintain the Court of Justice, the Constitutional Court, the Administrative Court and the Military Court.
The CDC felt there should be a committee to rule on the authority of the four courts. The committee will comprise experts from the four courts and representatives of conflicting parties.
For the Court of Justice, the CDC wanted general cases to be finalised at the Appeals Court to relieve the huge workload on the Supreme Court. However petitions to the Supreme Court should be allowed on a case-by-case basis, Gen Lertrat said.
The CDC sought to set the minimum age of judges at 35 instead of 25 to ensure their maturity.
For the Constitutional Court, the CDC wanted the judges to include experts on constitutional and public laws instead of involving mainly judges from the Supreme Court and the Administrative court, Gen Lertrat said.