Panel mulls ‘public interest’ cause for dropping case

A political reform panel under the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) is expected to submit to the government a proposal which calls for the prosecution to drop charges if they find it is not in the public interest to continue proceedings.

The proposal also urges all parties involved in civil lawsuits related to the political unrest to negotiate and settle their disputes out of court first.

Seree Suwanphanont, chairman of the NRSA’s political reform committee, said the proposal is aimed at helping foster national unity and heal political divisions through the justice administration process.

He said the document calls for an independent body to tackle political conflicts through both criminal and civil proceedings.

On the criminal proceedings, the proposal seeks to allow the prosecution to withdraw the charges if it becomes apparent that pursuing them would not be in the public interest.

He said it will apply to cases pending in the Appeal Court and the Supreme Court and the cases being handled by police.

Mr Seree said this element is in line with Section 21 of the Prosecution Act which allows the Attorney-General to consider dropping criminal lawsuits under such circumstances.

According to Mr Seree, the proposal also calls for a fact-finding process, the separation of politically-motivated criminal offences from others, and suspension of court proceedings and convictions against political offenders during the unrest. However, he insisted the proposal does not cover lese majeste and corruption charges.

On civil proceedings, the proposal calls for the state to set aside rehabilitation funds for victims and people affected by the political unrest, he said.

He said the proposal also deals with civil lawsuits which will be divided into two groups: the private sector against protesters; and the state against protesters.

Under the proposal, parties involved in the civil lawsuits will be encouraged to negotiate first but if the disputes cannot be settled they will be finalised by court, he said.

Mr Seree said the proposal will be forwarded to the Committee for National Administration under the Framework of National Reform, Strategy and Reconciliation for consideration after it is reviewed by the committee.

Earlier, the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) unveiled a plan to propose a draft law to the government offering a penalty reprieve for those who committed politically-motivated criminal offences as part of the unity-building process.

The 33-section bill involves politically motivated cases between 2005 and the May 22, 2014 coup.