Courts can now consider bail on holidays

Holidays will no longer be a reason for courts to reject considering bail requests outside office hours.

New Supreme Court president Slaikate Wattanapan has issued a new directive to have the court of first instance as well as appeal and supreme courts accept bail petitions on holidays.

The order, signed on Wednesday, is in line with the 2017 constitution and is aimed at protecting the rights of the accused, Sarawut Benjakul, secretarygeneral of the Office of the Courts of Justice, said yesterday.

Under Section 29, “a suspect or defendant in a criminal case shall be presumed innocent” and “an application for bail by a suspect or defendant in a criminal case shall be accepted for consideration”.

Bail requests cannot be ignored, no matter whether they are made on weekdays or holidays, Mr Sarawut said.

Mr Slaikate wants courts to accept bail applications on “every single day” even during holidays, he added.

The directive also corresponds with other laws, including the Criminal Procedure Code, which sets deadlines for taking cases to the court and causes it to open on holidays.

The laws intend to speed up procedures in order to protect the right of defendants to temporary release, Mr

Sarawut said. The same regulation also sets new practices for the primary court to consider petitions for custody and complaint postponement, handing over suspects under arrest warrants to police, as well as ordering suspects to undergo medical checks for drug-taking.

The court must carry out these duties at least on the first day of a holiday lasting two days.

If there are three days, it is recommended to work on the second day.