Thaksin pardon panel has 3 questions

"The pardon review in the Thaksin case has dragged on for a long time; the panel will proceed with caution before coming up with its recommendations," he said.

Tongthong said his panel was tasked with compiling a report on which Justice Minister Pracha Promnok can base a final decision.

In its report, the panel will try to decide:

? Whether the petitioners are entitled to petition for a royal pardon as per the Criminal Procedural Code;

? Whether the manner in which the petition was submitted is in accordance with traditions, precedents and prescribed rules and regulations; and

? Whether past pardon cases are applicable to the Thaksin case, such as the issue of serving time before seeking clemency.

On Wednesday, Pracha appointed the nine-member panel to scrutinise the pardon petition. The panel has already convened its first meeting to outline how it will go about its work. Its next meeting will take place in the next few weeks.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said the pardon review was business left unfinished by the previous government.

"This is a routine matter for my government to carry on to completion," she said, insisting her government had no policy on seeking or not seeking a pardon for any specific individual - including her brother, Thaksin.

She dismissed speculation that the government was rushing to seek royal clemency for Thaksin.

Democrat MP Thepthai Senpong said supporters of a pardon for Thaksin, such as Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung, had erred in assuming that a fugitive could receive a pardon without having served any time.

Legal provisions and precedents regarding pardons were clear, he said: Only incarcerated convicts are entitled to clemency. He said the case of former attorney-general Komain Patarapirom did not serve as a precedent, as Komain's jail term had been suspended, whereas Thaksin's has not.