NLA backs bill to create anti-graft court

A bill to create a branch of the Criminal Court to handle corruption cases yesterday sailed through its first reading in the National Legislative Assembly (NLA).

The NLA unanimously passed the bill with 174 votes and five abstentions and an NLA committee of 15 members was set up to vet the bill before it enters its second and third readings, said Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam.

This bill was initiated by the National Reform Council (NRC) which proposed the legislation. The council has been replaced by the National Reform Steering Assembly.

The bill was forwarded to the cabinet which approved it and forwarded it to the NLA. The draft law is in line with the government’s policy to fight corruption, said Mr Wissanu.

An anti-corruption section will help take the workload off the Criminal Court and speed up trials, said the deputy premier.

Corruption cases have increased dramatically but tend to be processed slowly, which led to the idea of setting up a new court section to deal specifically with graft cases, he said.

Cases passing through the court will go through the Appeal courts with no statute of limitation.

There will also be no Supreme Court for the final appeal, he said.

If a suspect escapes during trial, the court will put the case on hold until he or she is recaptured and brought back to face justice, he said.

Judges working in this section must have at least 10 years of experience, he said.

The corruption section of the court is expected to be set up in Bangkok by Oct 1 with regional branches coming later, he said.