Prosecutors oppose new composition of ruling body

Prosecutors oppose new composition of ruling body

Public prosecutors are campaigning against the composition of their governing body outlined in the charter draft.

Chaninya Chaisuwan, deputy attorney general of the Administrative Cases Office, said on Wednesday a group of prosecutors were collecting signatures from their peers, most of whom did not agree with the provision.

The protest letter will be submitted to the government and the National Legislative Assembly for consideration.  

Section 228 of the charter draft changes the composition of the State Attorney Commission (SAC). It requires that the chairman and at least one third of its members must be "experts" or persons who are not or have not been prosecutors or politicians.

Currently, all SAC members are prosecutors, who elect among themselves.

The commission considers the transfers and promotion of prosecutors, as well as imposes rules and considers disciplinary actions.

"We disagree with the change because it gives politicians a chance to intervene with and influence the commission," Mrs Chaninya said.

"Actually, we don't want any outsider in the commission because it will affect the reshuffling of prosecutors. The fact that the SAC's chairman must be an outsider will make it even worse," she said.

The move followed the same reaction of judges, who opposed the new composition of the Judiciary Commission, their governing body, last week.

But Jade Donavanik, a constitution writer, said on Wednesday the composition was changed to make prosecutors linked more to the people and for greater transparency.

"We have to admit that in the past, little do the public know how the judicial process works. Therefore a participatory process and more public understanding is needed.

"From the decision-making standpoint, the proportion of these outsiders cannot change or even sway anything. We just want them there for checks and balances," he explained.

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