THE PROBLEMS ON THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION PROCESS OF THE POLICE OFFICERS: CASE STUDIES IN THAILAND

Abstract

Although, in Thailand, human rights are guaranteed under the Constitution and the mechanisms for human rights protection are regulated in the investigation process, namely, organizational mechanisms supervised by the chain of command, the management of organization in accordance with the principles of good governance, and the control of morality and ethics of the officials. Furthermore, the human rights protection mechanisms outside of the organization are also preceded by empowering the judicial bodies and the Human Rights Commission of Thailand to inspect the performance of police officers. However, the important problem is that, in Thailand, the human rights protection is obvious only in the investigation process regarding narcotic, money laundering, special investigations and anti-participation in transnational organized crime which the details are prescribed in the investigation method, process, and investigation duration to protect the human rights, while there is no explicit human rights protection law for general investigation established. For general investigation, the law defines the terms of investigation broadly and entitles the police officers to use their discretion to choose the investigation method without prescribing the scope or criteria to choose the appropriate investigation method causing the police officers, unintentionally, choose the investigation method which violates the human rights.