Problems of Criminalizing Flag Desecration
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Abstract
Desecration of national flag is criminalized in order to protect national flag as an official symbol of sovereign nation-state and people who belong to such nation. However, crimes of flag desecration prescribed in article 118 of Thai penal code and article 54 of Flag Act B.E. 2522 have four problems. First, the laws are not in accordance with present social and political context. Second, their wordings are contrary to the principal of legality namely, lex certa. Third, they are overcriminalized and fourth, they disproportionately violate freedom of expression. Comparative study of flag desecration in Republic of India, Federal Republic of Germany and Republic of Korea shows that their laws are more consistent with lex certa and principles of criminalization. The purpose of this research is hence to find suitable alterations to crimes of flag desecration in Thailand.
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