FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Charter court to get greater powers

Charter court to get greater powers

CDC RESOLUTION PART OF MOVE TO PREVENT APPOINTED PREMIERS

AFTER A HOT debate, the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) yesterday resolved to allow the Constitutional Court to scrutinise the intent of law involving certain constitutional clauses in a bid to prevent possible conflicts stemming from requests from appointed premiers.
The first day of the charter drafting process, article by article, kicked off yesterday with a fierce debate over Article 7.
Article 7 in previous charters stated that when no provision was applicable to a case, the matter shall be decided in accordance with the constitutional practice in the democratic regime of government with the King as head of state.
“In order to prevent the proposals of a royally-appointed PM that were perceived as a threat to the monarchy, empowering the Constitutional Court to scrutinise charter articles would create a defence for further risks and disputes,” said a member of the subcommittee in charge of drafting articles and proposals for the CDC to consider. 
Many CDC members objected to this proposal. Some believed that giving more authority to the charter court could negatively impact on the executive and legislative branches. 
Others stressed that providing the Constitutional Court with the highest authority in charter scrutiny would result in it having to scrutinise more cases.
Some members questioned whether giving the court more powers would benefit the country other than just preventing proposals deemed threatening to the monarchy.
The subcommittee then explained there was a relationship to the King’s authority and the charter, and empowering the Constitutional Court more would also be beneficial in that respect.
Another important topic related to the Privy Council, with the subcommittee stipulating the articles on the council should be similar to previous charters. It said the council must be selected and appointed by the King and its members were prohibited from being a member of government agencies or related agencies.
The committee also stipulated that whenever the King was not available, he could ask a Privy Councillor to continue under his authority.
On the topic of civil rights, the committee proposed that the term civil rights should be defined in the charter in an effort to prevent misinterpretations of people’s rights. 
Several members supported this suggestion, saying that if the public read the draft without understanding the meaning of terms on this subject it could cause confusion once their rights have been violated.
“I believe this is one of the most important areas that should be stated clearly, because it would set standards and perceptions of the people on what rights they have including what categories they fit in under the charter,” a member said.
However, CDC president Borwornsak Uwanno insisted these terms had already been stated clearly without confusion and believed the public understood the terms contained in previous charters. 
During the writing of articles for the rights and responsibilities of Thai citizens, the CDC voted to remove a sentence from the second paragraph after a heated debate. 
The sentence sought to prohibit people from citing the King, the Queen and the heir to the throne for political and personal interests. 
The CDC said the ban would affect people who mentioned the Royal Family with sincere intention and it might be used as a political tool to persecute political opponents.
CDC spokesman Kamnoon Sidhisamarn earlier said the drafting process might not be open to the media because there were some topics that were very sensitive and could lead to the public misinterpreting things.
He said the CDC holding closed-door discussions would also provide members with more freedom to explain their views.
Nonetheless the CDC president urged the media to co-operate and not record any videos or voice recordings or take pictures throughout the drafting process.
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