Judges have not shared Yingluck judgments with each other
The ruling of the Supreme Court in the rice pledging case against former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra has not been made official, because the individual judges have not yet announced their decisions to each other, a well-informed source from the court said.
The nine judges of the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Office on the panel trying Yingluck’s case were scheduled to read their individual decisions on Friday. Then a discussion between the judges would lead to a majority opinion.
But after Yingluck jumped bail and did not appear in the court Friday, the decisions of the nine judges remained sealed in envelopes. The judges are not allowed to discussion their decision with peers until the day of the ruling. The final ruling will be based on a majority decision of the nine judges, said the source.
Because Yingluck did not attend the court ruling on Friday, the court was required by law to issue an arrest warrant for police to capture and bring her to court within a month.
Law authorises the judges to announce their individual decisions at the subsequent official ruling on September 30, a month after the originally scheduled reading. The presence of the defendant would not be necessary on that date, the source added.