RULES CONCERNING THE ADJUDICATION OF ISSUES OR CASES BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF JUDGES IN THAI ADMINISTRATIVE COURT

Abstract

This article focuses on studying administrative court procedure concerning the adjudication of issues or cases by the General Assembly of Judges. This is achieved through a comprehensive review of laws and regulations governing administrative court procedure, examination
of meeting minutes on legal drafting procedures, and analysis of academic publications, both in Thai and other languages. The study reveals that while the Act on the Establishment of Administrative Courts and Administrative Court Procedure, B.E. 2542 (1999), and the Rules of the General Assembly of Judges of the Supreme Administrative Court on Administrative Court Procedure, B.E. 2543 (2000), encompass extensive regulations on the submission of issues or cases to the General Assembly of Judges of the Administrative Courts, the legal framework concerning the authority to initiate or determine such submissions remains incongruous with the principle of judicial independence. Furthermore, the regulations pertaining to the grounds and conditions for submitting an issue or a case to the General Assembly of Judges of the Administrative Courts are to a certain degree ambiguous. Additionally, the appropriateness of considering a high amount of dispute as one of the grounds or conditions for such submission is highly debatable. Therefore, it is recommended that amendments be made to the laws and regulations governing administrative court procedure. This could involve introducing mechanisms to balance the exercise of discretion by the competent body. These mechanisms might include requiring justification of the order for the decision to submit an issue or a case to the General Assembly of Judges of the Administrative Courts, empowering  the competent chamber to propose applications for the adjudication of issues or cases by the General Assembly of Judges of the Administrative Courts, empowering the General Assembly of Judges of the Administrative Courts to decide whether an issue or a case is admissible, or removing cases with a high amount of dispute from the grounds or conditions for exercising discretion to order the submission to the General Assembly of Judges of the Administrative Courts.