THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Academics argue for judicial reforms

Academics argue for judicial reforms

ACADEMICS and legal experts have urged the state to guarantee legislative reform and community rights to protect people from strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs).

A SLAPP is a lawsuit that is intended to censor, intimidate and silence critics by burdening them with the cost of a legal defence until they abandon their criticism or opposition, according to Wikipedia.
Yesterday academics, lawyers and community-rights defenders from across the country gathered at a seminar called “Justice System, Community Rights and Human Rights Activists” at Thammasat University. There they discussed the use of legal tools by companies against people who oppose projects.
The discussion was mainly focused on SLAPPs.
The participants issued a statement signed by 12 organisations that called on Thailand to adhere to international laws to protect human-rights activists, instead of using legal tools against them. 
“The government of Thailand should decriminalise defamation, which international law considers a disproportionate form of punishment for defamation-related charges, and drop all unwarranted charges brought against human-rights defenders,” they said.
They also called on the business sector to respect human rights and activists’ missions and follow the United Nations’ Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to address any potential adverse human-rights situations and negative environmental impacts related to their activities.
Sor Rattanamanee Polkla, a lawyer from the Community Resource Centre, said that in the past five years there had been several cases of SLAPPs being used against activists fighting to protect their livelihoods from environmentally harmful projects.
“We still have many legal gaps that business owners can use against activists who protest against their businesses, such as the defamation law,” Sor Rattanamanee said. 
“In Thailand defamation is a criminal [offence], and it is serious to be sued in a criminal case. Therefore, we have to reform the law and law enforcement in order to prevent SLAPPs. 
“Moreover, the business sector should understand that people campaign because there is a problem, so they should solve that problem rather than sue people.”
Sangchai Rattanasereewong, a lawyer and legal expert, said many judges and juries deliberated on a case by only considering the law without investigating why people were upset and made their decision.
“It is always very costly and hard for ordinary people to fight in court because they don’t have much money or time … so this SLAPP tactic is very efficient to use against poor people to scare them and make them stop their campaigns,” he said.
“However, people can use legal prosecution against harmful businesses too, as they can use the legal fight as a way to publicise their campaign and the problems they face. It can also show the public that our legal system is not perfect and lead to law reform.”
Sor Rattanamanee concluded that even though the law was frequently used against people, she still believed the legal system could bring justice to human-rights defenders and protect the community.
“There are many cases when a court ruled in favour of the activists based on just consideration. I still believe in our justice system, but it needs reform to let the law serve people and protect people’s rights,” she said.
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