The Constitutional Court has endured significant political pressure and played a major role in navigating the country through repeated political crises, including the dissolution of political parties in the past three decades since its establishment, a seminar was told.
The Constitutional Court hosted an international seminar and a public lecture under the theme "The Courts and the Protection of Human Rights", presided over by Nakharin Mektrairat, its president and chair of the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions.
Representatives from several of the association's member states -- including South Korea, Turkey, and Uzbekistan -- attended the event, with others joining online. The association now comprises 21 member countries.
During the event, Constitutional Court Judge Chiranit Havanond delivered a lecture titled "Three Decades of the Thai Constitutional Court and Challenges in the Next Decade". He recounted the evolution and important rulings of the court across three decades since its establishment under the 1997 constitution.
In the first decade (1997–2006), Mr Chiranit explained that the court focused primarily on determining whether ordinary legislation conflicted with the constitution. At the time, there were widespread questions about the court's relevance and authority.
Key legal principles guiding the court included the rule of law and the protection of civil liberties. Many early rulings helped define what types of cases fell under the court's jurisdiction. Since there was no organic law specifying court procedures in that period, the court operated under its own temporary procedural rules.
The second decade (2007–2014) was marked by political crises and its expanded role, a period that coincided with heightened political tension and national crises. Mr Chiranit recalled landmark decisions such as the 2008 ruling that terminated late prime minister Samak Sundaravej's premiership due to his income earned from hosting a cooking show, which the court deemed a conflict of interest.
Other high-profile rulings included the invalidation of parliamentary votes where MPs used proxy voting cards in parliament -- an act the court saw as undermining constitutional sovereignty -- and the removal of a prime minister for nepotism through civil servant appointments.
The prime minister in question seemed to refer to Yingluck Shinawatra. On Sept 4, 2011, Yingluck, who was in power at the time, signed an order transferring Thawil Pliensri, who served as chief of the National Security Council (NSC), to work as her adviser.
She also appointed Pol Gen Wichean Potephosree, the national police chief at the time, to replace Mr Thawil at the NSC, and later proposed that Pol Gen Priewphan Damapong, then-deputy police chief and a close relative of hers, be appointed as the national police chief, filling the vacancy left by Pol Gen Wichean.
Mr Chiranit said that during this decade, the Constitutional Court was not immune to threats, including an M79 grenade attack on its office in Phahurat, an ethnic neighbourhood in Bangkok.
In the third decade, the court has found itself dealing with more political matters.
Since the promulgation of the 2017 charter, the Constitutional Court has gained a more significant role in adjudicating constitutional complaints related to government actions.
Mr Chiranit noted a sharp increase in politically sensitive cases, particularly those involving the dissolution of political parties.
In 2019, the Thai Raksa Chart Party (TRC) was ordered dissolved by the charter court, which viewed the party's nomination of Princess Ubolratana as its prime ministerial candidate as an attempt to sabotage the monarchy.
In February 2020, the Future Forward Party was disbanded due to an illegal loan extended by its leader, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit.
The Constitutional Court also determined that orders issued by military coup regimes are only valid during states of emergency for the sake of maintaining national security. Once the country returns to normalcy, such orders are deemed unconstitutional.
Traditionally, the courts have refrained from scrutinising or overturning directives issued by coup-makers.
Mr Chiranit said the Constitutional Court also ruled that drafting a new charter must always be preceded by a referendum.
One ruling found that examples of activism pushing to reform the lese-majeste law were attempts to "undermine the democratic regime with the King as Head of State". The court held that such actions must cease as they erode the constitutional order.
In August 2024, the Constitutional Court found the Move Forward Party (MFP) and its executives guilty of trying to amend the lèse-majesté law -- an act tantamount to attempting to overthrow the constitutional monarchy. It ordered the MFP dissolved and handed its executives a 10-year ban from politics.
Mr Chiranit acknowledged the growing challenges as the court approaches its fourth decade. Chief among them is maintaining public trust and judicial neutrality, particularly amid increasing political attempts to influence the court or alter its structure, he said.
Chiranit: Judicial neutrality a concern