NLA accepts bill to limit right of appeal

NLA accepts bill to limit right of appeal

The National Legislative Assembly on Thursday approved in principle a bill that would remove the right of appeal to the Supreme Court in most civil law cases and make the Appeals Court the final arbiter.

The legislation, sponsored by Courts of Justice, seeks to amend the Civil Procedure Code’s appellate procedure to reduce the number of civil law cases brought to the Supreme Court and to improve the proficiency of the hearing process. 

It is reasoned that long delays in appellate hearings caused damage to honest litigants and undermined  confidence in the Thai justice system. 

Under the amendment bill only appeals in certain civil cases would be allowed to reach the Supreme Court, and would need approval from a four-member scrutinising committee set up by the court.

These include appeals involving issues related to the public interest, or if the Appeals Court’s judgement is found to contradict the norms of the Supreme Court or the lower court’s ruling.      

The four committee members would be the vice-president of the Supreme Court and three court judges.

Some NLA members disagreed with the bill, describing the proposed changes as a restriction of people’s rights.  

Thanee On-laiad said the bill would affect many different  parties and suggested the government seek  opinions from the public, police officers, the Lawyers Council and the Corrections Department.

Tuang Anthachai argued that, under the current political situation, the NLA should not amend any law that reduced the people’s rights. He said the claim that the bill would reduce the backlog in the Supreme Court’s lists was not valid. The court should adjust its methods, rather than attempt to amend the law.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said the amendments to the appellate law were necessary because there were currently only 140 Supreme Court judges handling a total of 25,000 civil matters each year. 

He said the people’s right to appeal still existed under the propose amendment, but under an approval-based system instead of as an automatic right. An appellant could still take  their case to the Supreme Court.

The bill was passed in the first reading and referred to a scrutinising committee. 

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