Better justice set-up would cut inefficiency and reduce risk of further violence: TRCT chief

As a start, Thailand’s legal procedures must be revamped, he said. A change must be introduced to the way police put cases together, inform affected parties, gather evidence and verify facts, to ensure that any proceeding is fair. 

 

This was crucial if trust in the government was to be established among all Thais, he noted.

 

 “Red armies were formulated in several countries. In Germany and Japan, they were tackled through the judicial process,” said Kanit, a legal academic who was educated in Germany. He is convinced that the violence destabilising Thai society stems from social injustice.

 

 Kanit was on the committee set up in 1992 to find the facts behind “Black May”, the protest joined by over 200,000 people in Bangkok against the Suchinda government. The crackdown resulted in at least 52 deaths (that was the official figure although many say the toll was higher), hundreds of injuries, the arrest of over 3,500, and many disappearances. At the time, the committee was tasked to find people responsible for the crackdown, but the report was never released to the public. 

 

 After the coup in 2006, he was on another committee set up by the Surayud government to investigate the legitimacy of the “war against drugs” implemented by the previous regime headed by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The crackdown led to the death of over 2,000 people, some believed to be innocent. The committee concluded it was a “crime against humanity”, and this led the Samak government to abolish the policy.

 

 Kanit won another fact-finding mission two years ago, when he was made chairman of the Truth for Reconciliation Committee of Thailand (TRCT). Set up by the Abhisit government, its task is to find the facts behind the bloody crackdown in April and May 2010, which saw over 90 people killed and up to 2,000 injured.

 

 In these roles, he had learnt enough about violence, he said, and that it should be prevented. He was pleased to see the private sector now taking action to try to stop more violence. 

 

 “It’s a good sign for society. It’s good to witness enthusiasm from all parties to solve public problems. Changes must be pushed by the public, to force the government to take action,” he said.

 

 In his role as chairman of the Law Reform Commission Office, a forum is planned to seek opinions from all parties on how to revamp judicial procedures. 

 

 Kanit believes current procedures have three weak points – that they are inefficient, threaten people’s liberty, and are not cost-effective. In societies where public image is a priority, like Japan, wrongdoers often admit to crimes and apologise. Without a similar attitude, the cost of prosecutions in Thailand is double that of Japan. 

 

 An aim of the reform is to ensure greater fairness for the majority of Thais, who are in the agricultural sector and labour market. Many farmers are implicated in forest encroachment cases and workers are poorly treated. 

 

 “We need to start with things that concern a large number of people. We can’t do everything at one time. Our resources are limited,” he said.

 

 Kanit believed that fair trials would restore public trust in the judicial system and the authorities. Trust was lost when the Constitution Court ruled in August 2000 that Thaksin did not conceal his assets despite clear evidence of having done such. This led to distrust in the 1997 Constitution, which was the first charter drawn up by all sectors of Thai society, and led to confusion, the coup and then violence. 

 

 “Everything was gone, all improvement that we had witnessed,” he said.

 

 Kanit noted that the legal system’s inefficiency has led to a high number of prisoners. Jails around the country have a capacity to handle 90,000 prisoners, but these jails hold over 200,000 inmates, 37 per cent of them involved in ongoing trials.

 

 The procedures are also costly as many cases go as far as the Supreme Court, which extends the length of prosecutions.

 

 “Elsewhere in the world, the Supreme Court is asked to rule on conflicting laws, not make final judgements on legal cases. How can they do that when no witnesses or evidence is presented?”

 

 This has lead to a pile-up of court cases at the Thai Supreme Court, which requires a bigger number of judges. While there are nine judges in the same court in the US, and 15 in Japan and Germany, Thailand’s Supreme Court has over 100 judges. And there are over 30,000 cases waiting for them to consider.

 

 Kanit said that only fair judicial procedures would deliver justice, and only justice would ensure no more social clashes and violence. 

 

 “Basically, humans need two things: one, is the four basic necessities [food, a home, medicine, clothes]; the other, is fairness, which must be felt inside. So we must create a mechanism to make this happen,” he concluded.