The Civil Court on Friday refused to issue a temporary injunction to prohibit the caretaker government from using the emergency decree against protesters.
However, the court did issue a temporary injunction preventing the decree being used to confiscate goods, supplies and materials belonging to the protesters. The decree also cannot prevent these goods being traded.
Last Monday, Thaworn Senneam, a co-leader of the anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), asked the court to issue a temporary injunction to reverse the government's decision to impose the emergency decree on Bangkok and surrounding provinces. He also sought a temporary injunction against a possible crackdown on demonstrators and other measures under the executive decree on public administration in emergency situations.
The court dismissed Mr Thaworn's claim that the government planned to use 16,000 riot police to disperse protesters. The court stated that since the government had not tried to do so, there was no reason for it to issue the injunction.
In response to Mr Thaworn's request for the court to prohibit the government from using force to disperse demonstrators and banning protesters from entering government property and using modes of transport, the court ruled that the government had the power to do so as long as the actions did not affect the constitutional rights of demonstrators.
However, the court did issue an injunction prohibiting the government from seizing supplies at protest sites, ruling the government's ban on them restricted people's right to demonstrate.
Mr Thaworn said the court viewed the protests as legal and that the government must not take any unreasonably violent or discriminatory actions against anti-government protesters. He referred to possible rallies by pro-government protesters.
He also urged caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, caretaker Labour Minister Chalerm Yubamrung as director of the Centre for Maintaining Peace and Order and police chief Pol Gen Adul Saengsingkaew to comply with a summons and testify before the Civil Court next Thursday in connection with a lawsuit he filed.
Mr Thaworn has accused the three of imposing the emergency decree against anti-government protesters illegally.