Constitution

Thailand 2007 Constitution

Table of Contents

CHAPTER XII. INSPECTION OF THE EXERCISE OF STATE POWER

Part 1. Scrutiny Of Assets

Section 259

Persons holding the following political positions shall submit an account showing particulars of their assets and liabilities and those of their spouses and children who have not yet become sui juris to the National Counter Corruption Commission each time taking or vacating office:

  1. Prime Minister;
  2. Minister;
  3. Member of the House of Representatives;
  4. Senator;
  5. Other political official;
  6. Local administrator and member of a local assembly as provided by law.

The account under paragraph one shall be submitted together with supporting documents proving the actual existence of such assets and liabilities as well as a copy of the personal income tax return of the previous fiscal year.

The submission of an account showing the particulars of assets and liabilities under paragraph one and paragraph two shall include the assets which the political office holder has entrusted to others or are in possession and care of others, directly or otherwise.

Section 260

The account showing the particulars of assets and liabilities under Section 259 shall disclose the particulars of assets and liabilities actually existing as of the date of submission, and shall be submitted within specified periods as follows:

  1. Taking office: within 30 days as from the date of taking office;
  2. Vacating office: within 30 days as from the date of the vacation;
  3. In the case where the person under Section 259, who has already submitted the account, dies while being in office or before submitting the same after vacating office, an heir or an administrator of an estate of such person shall submit an account showing the particulars of assets and liabilities existing on the date of such person’s death within 90 days as from the date of the death.

The holder of a position of Prime Minster, Minister, local administrator, member of a local assembly, or person holding a political position, shall re-submit an account showing the particulars of assets under (2) and liabilities within 30 days after one year of vacating office.

Section 261

The account showing the particulars of assets and liabilities, along with supporting documents of the Prime Minister, Ministers, members of the House of Representatives, members of the Senate, shall be disclosed to the public within 30 days from the closing date of account submission. The account of other political office holders shall be disclosed only if such disclosure is useful in considering or deciding a case, or at the request of the Court, or interested party, or the National Counter Corruption Commission.

The President of the National Counter Corruption Commission shall convene a meeting of the Commission to determine the accuracy and the actual existence of the assets and liabilities declared without delay.

Section 262

In the case where the submission of the account is made by reason of vacation of office or death of a person holding a political position, the National Counter Corruption Commission shall inspect the change of assets and liabilities of such person and prepare a report of the inspection for publication in the Government Gazette.

In the case where it appears that the amount of assets of the person under paragraph one has increased abnormally, the President of the National Counter Corruption Commission shall send all the documents together with the inspection report to the Prosecutor General to institute an action in the Supreme Court of Justice’s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions so that if guilty as charged the increased portion of the assets shall go to the State. The provisions of Section 272 paragraph 5 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Section 263

A holder of a political position who intentionally fails to submit an account showing assets and liabilities and supporting documents as statutorily required, or intentionally submits the same with false statements, or conceals facts that should be revealed, shall vacate office as from the date of the expiration of the time limit for the submission under Section 251, or as from the date such act is discovered, as the case may be.

If such case under paragraph one occurs, the National Counter Corruption Commission shall submit the case to the Supreme Court of Justice’s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions for decision.

When the final judgment of the Supreme Court of Justice’s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions said that any holder of the political position had violated under paragraph one, the provisions of Section 92 shall apply mutatis mutandis and that person shall be barred from taking political office or a position in a political party for 5 years as from the date of the decision.

Section 264

The provisions of Section 259, Section 260, Section 261 and paragraph 2, and Section 263 paragraph 1 shall apply to State officials as prescribed by the National Counter Corruption Commission, mutatis mutandis.

The National Counter Corruption Commission may disclose the account showing the particulars of assets and liabilities and the supporting documents submitted to an interested party if such disclosure is useful in the prosecution of a case or decision on an offence as provided in the organic Act on counter corruption.

Part 2. Acts Detrimental To Public Interests (Acts of Conflict of Interest

Section 265

A member of the House of Representatives as a member of the Senate shall:

  1. Not hold any position or have any function in any Government agency, State agency or State enterprise; or hold a position of member of a local assembly, be a local administrator or local government official;
  2. Not receive, interfere, or intervene in the granting of any concession from the State, a State agency or State enterprise; or be a partner in contract in business with the attributes of economic monopoly with the State, a State agency or State enterprise; or a be a partner or shareholder in a partnership or company receiving such concession or be a party to the contract of that nature, directly or otherwise;
  3. Not receive any special money or benefit from any State enterprise, over and above what the State agency or State enterprise pays to other persons in the normal course of business;
  4. Not violated that prohibited by the section 48;

The provisions of this Section shall not apply in the case where a member of the House of Representatives or a member of the Senate receives pensions, gratuities, year’s pensions from members of the Royal family, annuities or any other form of payment of the same nature, nor in the case where a member of the House of Representatives or a member of the Senate accepts or holds a position of committee member of the National Assembly, the House of Representatives or the Senate, or committee member appointed as a qualified person under the provisions of law or committee member appointed in the course of administering the State affairs.

The substance in (2), (3), and (4) shall apply to the spouse and offspring of a member of the House of Representatives or a member of the Senate as well as to other persons who are married partners or offspring of that member of the House of Representatives or that member of the Senate in the form of a assignee, collaborator, or assignee of the House of Representatives or the Senate.

Section 266

A member of the House of Representatives or a member of the Senate is not permitted to use his or her status or position of being a member of the House of Representatives or a member of the Senate to interfere or intervene for his or her personal benefits or others or a political party, directly or otherwise in the following matters:

  1. Performance of civil service, or performance of routine duties of a civil servant, staff or employee of a civil service agency, State agency, State enterprise, business in which the State holds a majority stake, or local government;
  2. Recruitment, appointment, reshuffle, transfer, promotion, and salary increase of a Government official holding a permanent position, receiving a salary and not being a political official, an official or employee of State agency, State enterprise, and business with the State as a majority stakeholder, or local government organization; or
  3. Removal from office of a Government official holding a permanent position, receiving a salary and not being a political official, an official or employee of State agency, State enterprise, and business with the State as a majority stakeholder, or local government organization.

Section 267

The provisions of Section 265 shall apply to the Prime Minister and Ministers. Except for holding a position and performing duties according to the provisions of the law, the Prime Minister or Ministers are prohibited to hold a position in a partnership, company, or business enterprise pursuing profits or income to be shared, or be an employee of any person.

Section 268

The Prime Minister or Ministers are prohibited to do what is provided under Section 266, except in the exercise of powers and duties in administering the State affairs in accordance with a policy declared in the National Assembly as provided by law.

Section 269

The Prime Minister or a Minister shall not be a partner or shareholder of a partnership or a company, nor retain his or her being a partner or shareholder of a partnership or a company up to the limit permitted by law. If the Prime Minister or a Minister wishes to continue receiving the said benefits, the Prime Minister or a Minister must inform the President of the National Counter Corruption Commission within 30 days as from the date of the appointment, and transfer his or her shares in the partnership or company to a juristic person which manages assets for or on behalf of others as provided by law.

The Prime Minister or a Minister shall not engage in any act which, by its nature, is tantamount to administration or management of shares or affairs of the said partnership or company.

The provisions of this Section shall apply to the spouse and offspring that not become one’s legal age of the Prime Minister and the Minister and the provisions of Section 259 paragraph 3 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Part 3. Removal From Office

Section 270

The Senate shall have the power to remove from office persons in political or official positions, including Prime Minister, Minister, member of the House of Representatives, Senator, President of the Constitutional Court, President of the Supreme Court of Justice, President of the Supreme Administrative Court or Prosecutor General , for having become unusually wealthy indicative of possible commission of corruption, malfeasance in office or malfeasance in judicial office, or for an intentional exercise of power contrary to the provisions of the Constitution or law, or for serious violation, or non- compliance with the ethnical standard.

The provisions under paragraph one shall also apply to the persons holding the following positions:

  1. Judge of the Constitutional Court, Election Commissioner, Ombudsman, and member of the State Audit Commission;
  2. Judge, public prosecutor or high-ranking official in accordance with the organic Act on counter corruption.

Section 271

Members of the House of Representatives of not less than one-fourth of the existing members of the House have the right to lodge with the President of the Senate a complaint requesting the Senate to pass a resolution under Section 274 to remove a person under Section 270 from office. The said request must clearly state the grounds of allegation and list the wrongful acts that the said person has allegedly committed.

Senators of not less than one-fourth of the existing members of the Senate shall have the right to lodge with the President of the Senate a complaint requesting the Senate to pass a resolution under Section 274 to remove a Senator from office.

Eligible voters of not fewer than 20,000 shall have the right to sign a petition to have a person in Section 270 removed from office under Section 164.

Section 272

Upon receipt of the request under Section 271, the President of the Senate shall refer the matter to the National Counter Corruption Commission for investigation without delay.

After the investigation is completed, the National Counter Corruption Commission shall prepare a report thereon and submit it to the Senate. The said report shall clearly state which of the counts charged in the request are prima facie and which are not, and how reliable the evidence and witnesses are, along with a conclusion and recommendations of how to proceed next.

In the case where the National Counter Corruption Commission is of the opinion that a certain count or counts in the request are important, the National Counter Corruption Commission may make a separate report specifically on the said counts and submit it to the President of the Senate under paragraph one for consideration in advance if so wished.

If the National Counter Corruption Commission passes a resolution with a vote of no less than one-half of the existing Commissioners that the accusation has a prima facie case, the accused holder of office shall not, as from the date of such resolution, perform his or her duties until the Senate has passed its resolution. The President of the National Counter Corruption Commission shall submit the report, existing documents, and its opinion to the President of the Senate for proceeding in accordance with Section 264 and to the Prosecutor General for instituting prosecution in the Supreme Court of Justice’s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions. [On the other hand], if the National Counter Corruption Commission is of the opinion that the accusation has no prima facie case, such accusation shall lapse.

In the case where the Prosecutor General is of the opinion that the report, documents and opinion submitted by the National Counter Corruption Commission under paragraph four are not sufficiently complete to institute prosecution, the Prosecutor General shall notify the National Counter Corruption Commission for further proceedings, specifying the incomplete items. In such case, the National Counter Corruption Commission and the Prosecutor General shall appoint a working committee, consisting of their representatives in an equal number, for collecting evidence so as to make it complete and submit it to the Prosecutor General for further prosecution. In the case where the working committee is unable to reach a decision on the prosecution, the National Counter Corruption Commission shall have the power to prosecute by itself, or appoint a lawyer to prosecute on its behalf.

Section 273

Upon receipt of the report under Section 272, the President of the Senate shall convoke a sitting of the Senate for considering the said matter without delay.

In the case where the National Counter Corruption Commission submits the report out of Parliamentary session of the Senate, the President of the Senate shall inform the President of the National Assembly in order to tender a petition to the King for issuance of a Royal Command convoking an extraordinary session of the National Assembly. The President of the National Assembly shall countersign the Royal Command.

Section 274

A Senator shall be free to cast a vote, which shall be by secret ballot. A resolution for the removal of any person from office shall have votes of no less than three-fifths of the total number of the existing members of the Senate.

A person who is removed from office shall vacate office or be released from government service as from the date of the Senate’s resolution. Such person shall be deprived of political position or rights to work in government service for 5 years.

The Senate’s resolution under this Section shall be final and no request for removal of such person from office shall be made on the same ground, albeit without prejudice to the trial of the Supreme Court of Justice’s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions.

Part 4. Criminal Proceedings Against Persons Holding Political Positions

Section 275

In the case where Prime Minister, Minister, member of the House of Representatives, Senator, or another political office has been accused of becoming unusually wealthy, or of malfeasance in office according to the penal code or of dishonest act in the performance of duties or corruption according to other laws, the Supreme Court of Justice’s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions shall have the competent jurisdiction to try and adjudicate the case.

The provisions in paragraph one shall apply to the said individual or others including the ring leader, instigator or supporter, giver and procurer or pledgor of assets or other benefits to the person in paragraph one offered as an incentive to act or omit the act or to delay the act contrary to his or her duties.

The petition to the National Counter Corruption Commission may disclose the account showing the particulars of assets and liabilities and the supporting documents submitted to an interested party if such disclosure is useful in the prosecution of a case or decision on an offence as provided in the organic Act on counter corruption.

The request to the National Counter Corruption Commission to proceed under section 250 (2) shall provided in the organic Act on counter corruption that said to prevent and suppress the corruption.

Section 276

In a case where a general meeting of the Supreme Court of Justice agrees to proceed a petition lodged under Section 275 paragraph four, the general meeting of the Supreme Court of Justice shall appoint an independent investigator who is politically impartial and renowned for his honesty, or refer the matter to the National Counter Corruption Commission to conduct an investigation under Section 250 (4) instead of appointing an independent investigator.

Qualifications, duties and power, investigation procedure, and other proceeding necessary for independent investigator shall be in accordance with the provisions of the law.

When the independent investigator inquires into the facts, summarizes the case, and prepares an opinion, if the accusation is prima facie, the reports and existing documents including the opinion shall be sent to the president of the Senate to proceed under Section 273 and send the case summary and the opinion to the Attorney-General to enter a charge before the Supreme Court of Justice’s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions. The provision in Section 272 paragraph five shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Section 277

In a trial, the Supreme Court of Justice’s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions shall rely primarily on the case of the National Counter Corruption Commission or the independent investigator’s as the case may be, and may conduct an investigation in order to obtain additional facts or evidence as it sees fit.

The procedure of the Supreme Court of Justice’s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions shall be in accordance with an organic bill on the criminal procedure for persons holding political positions, and the provisions of Section 213 shall apply to the performance of the duties of the Supreme Court of Justice’s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions mutatis mutandis.

The provisions on the immunity of members of the House of Representatives and senators under Section 131 shall not apply to a trial of the Supreme Court of Justice’s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions.

Section 278

An adjudication of a case shall be made by a majority of votes; provided that every judge constituting the quorum shall prepare his written opinion and make oral statements to the meeting prior to the passing of a resolution.

The orders and judgments of the Supreme Court of Justice’s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions shall be disclosed to the public and considered as final, except in compliance with the provisions of paragraph three.

In the case where the convicted of the Supreme Court of Justice’s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions has acquired new witnesses or evidence which might substantially alter the fact of the case, he or she may appeal to a general meeting of the Supreme Court of Justice within 30 days of the date of the issuance of judgment.

The rules for appeal and judicial procedure of the general meeting of the Supreme Court of Justice shall be in accordance with the rules of procedure set by the general meeting of the Supreme Court of Justice.