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Laws of Thailand

History of Law in Thailand

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Until the 20th-century legal reforms of Rama V, the law of Thailand derived — in theory — from treatises on law called dhammasattha (Thai, ธรรมศาสตร์ thammasāt or dhammasāt) derived from the "Code of Manu" (Manusmṛti) and collectively called "science of law" (พระธรรมศาสตร์ phrathammasāt):

The dharmasastras [books of law] are not ordinary legal treatises expounding the actual law of the country. The science of law was connected with the study of Veda [religious texts]. The latter leads to the study of the rules which necessarily control human societies and are independent of human wills. It reveals to men the principles which should inspire their conduct if they wish to live the meritorious life. They are thus analogous to the European "natural law." But while the European theorists of the "natural law" seldom went beyond the vague region of generalities and the exposition of fundamental principles, the Hindus proceeded to deduce from these principles a mass of detailed and precise rules. Thus the dharmasastras, while theoretically expounding only natural (not positive) law, in fact regulated the entire legal life of man. Hence they were liable to be mistaken for genuine legal treatises.[1]

Furthermore, while dhamma in theory translates to law, in practice Dhamma translates to Norm.[2] Upholding the Norm thus is the sole legal principle, which aims to protect the model government and not the rights of any individuals in the state, not even rights of the ruler of the state.[3] This has important legal consequences, often overlooked in the evolution of the monarchy of Thailand.

First, a ruler must be elected, not according to any law governing electors or succession, but according to the norms of the time and place.[a][b] Next, the one selected must be enthroned and given a royal title and regalia emblematic of the king's right to exercise arbitrary power.[c]

While the dharmasastra concept of arbitrary power (French: pouvoir arbitraire) bears semblance to the Chinese concept of the Mandate of Heaven and Confucian thought on family as a model for the state, and to a lesser extent, the Western concept of absolute monarchy, the principle differs in practice — specifically, in the practice of law.[citation needed]


Notes

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  1. ^ This continues to be the norm despite the 1924 Palace Law of Succession promulgated by Rama VI, in the wake of attempts by Rama V to adapt Siam to Western norms.
  2. ^ The Western "norm" of primogeniture has no less than six varieties, and the practice varied considerably over the course of history.
  3. ^ This is discussed at considerable length by Wales, and criticized by

References

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  1. ^ Wigmore, John H. (Digitized 2012) [Originally published 1940]. "Pramnŏn Kŏtmai Roc'ăkan T'I Nŭng Cŭlăcăkărăt 1166. (Code of the first reign [of Siam] 1166 [A.D. 1804-05]). Edited by R. Lingat, from the Official Manuscripts of the Triple Seal. Bangkok, Vols. I, II, 1939; Vol. III (in press)" [Thai ประมวลกฎมาย รัชกาลที่ ๑ จุลศักราช ๑๑๕๕]. Louisiana Law Review. 2 (digital). at DigitalCommons: pp. 556–567. Retrieved February 20, 2013. "L'Influence Indoue dans l'ancien Droit Siamois" dans l'Etude de sociologie et d'ethnologie juridiques no. XXV. Paris (1937) p. 18 {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Dhani Nivat, Kromamun Bidyalabh Bluitiyakara [in Thai] (1947). "The Old Siamese conception of the Monarchy" (PDF). JSS Vol.36.2b (digital). Siamese Heritage Trust: 96 image 6. Retrieved March 7, 2013. This, dear son, that thou, leaning on the Norm (Dhamma).... {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ^ Sarasin Viraphol (1977). "Law in traditional Siam and China: A comparative study" (PDF). Journal of the Siam Society. JSS Vol. 65.1 (digital). Siam Heritage Trust: image 2. Retrieved March 17, 2013. ...incorporation of natural law (jus naturale) into the positive law (jus gentium) of the ruler, making the pouvoir arbitraire the sole legal principle for government.

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1) Kojmai Tra Sam Duang (กฏหมายสามดวง) or the Three Seal Code is so called because the original royal edition — first printed in 1849, 45 years after its promulgation — was affixed, as authentication, with the seals of the lion (of the Interior Department). the kotchasi (คชสิห์) a mythological lion-elephant beast (of the Defence Department), and the glass lotus (of the Finance Department). Because the first public printing of the Code was subsequently seized by the authorities (on the grounds of showing disrespect to the king [Mongkut]), the contents of the Code were kept from public knowledge for a long period . Despite attempts by Dr. Dan Bradley, who was responsible for issuing the Bradley Edition of the Code in 1863, and Prince Rajburi, responsible for the so-called Rajburi Version of the Code in 1901, the original and complete Three Seal Code was not publicly issued until 1939, the first publication being sponsored by the newly founded Thammasart University (University of Political and Moral Sciences) in Bangkok, edited by French legal scholar Robert Lingat.


In the ancient times the monarchs of the Siamese nation governed their people with laws which were originally derived from the Dhamasustra of Manu, which was then the prevailing law among the inhabitants of India and the neighbouring countries.

King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), in the preamble to the Siamese Penal Code promulgated on April 1, 1908, which came into operation on September 21st.[1]

The Indianized kingdoms of Southeast Asia inherited the Brahminical traditional view that the universe is governed by an immutable natural law, the Dharma ({{th|ธรรม), miraculously revealed to the legendary Manu of Hinduism, made known to mankind through abridged versions called Dharmaśāstra. Only a small part of the Dhannasastra deals with the administration of justice; the rest deals with Brahminical practices deeply rooted in Brahmanical religion. The Khmer Empire and kingdoms where Brahminism predominated adopted the Dharmasastra with little or no change. Disputes were settled, and the rites observed, by reference to it in a manner analogous to common law; but as decisions in specific cases were ad hoc commands that established no precedent, no code of civil law came into being—except in Siam.

Thammasat

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Mon people fleeing the Khmers founded new Mon kingdoms which fostered scholars who developed a genre of literature called Dhammasattha that form the basis of Burmese customary law. Dhammathat or Thammasat (ธรรมศาสตร์) is the modern Thai word for jurisprudence and for Thammasat University (TU). TU professor Robert Lingat when it was still know as the University of Moral and Political Sciences, and characterized by Northwestern University law professor John H. Wigmore as the greatest (and almost the only) authority on Siamese legal history, The Code of Wareru,[Notes 1] [Notes 2] [Notes 3]


Ayutthayan Law

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The four traditional kingdoms collectively called Siam derived their law from the Code of Wareru 1253–1307), which was derived from the Dhammathat ({{lang|th|ธรรมศาสตร์ Thammasat]]) with Brahminical matter removed. The Dhammathat forms the basis of common law in the other [[Greater Indian|Indianized} Southeast Asian kingdoms, but when Trailokanat, King of Sukhothai from 1431 and of Ayutthaya from 1448 to 1488, promulgated the Ayutthayan Law in 1458, which lasted well into the 19th century.(1314–1369) At the end of Burmese–Siamese War (1765–1767), the capital was destroyed followed the reestablishment of Siamese authority in a series of wars and rebellions.

Chakri Dynasty

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19th Century

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In 1804, King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (Rama I) had the old Ayutthayan laws collected and organized. The first page of the official manuscripts of the Law Code of 1805 bore Three Seals,[2]: p.9/30  which gave rise to the name, Law of the Three Seals;[3] and were later edited and published in 1938-39.[4]Pramnŏn Kŏtmai Roc'ăkan T'I Nŭng Cŭlăcăkărăt (Thai: ประมวลกฎมาย รัชกาลที่หนึ่ง) 1166 (English: Code of the first reign Chula Sakarat 1166 A.D.1804-05) by R. Lingat Vols. I, II, 1939; Vol. III (in press).and published The Japanese Assistant Legal Adviser assigned to Siam, Toshiki Masao, [5] : 130 ,

20th Century

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On July 2, before the new Code had been made available to the public, Dr. Toshiki Masao read a paper to members of the Siam Society, to explain that henceforth the people would be governed with laws which were originally derived from the Corpus Juris Civilis of Justinian; then closes his remarks by quoting the opening of Introduction to The Institutes of Justinian:[6]

Imperatoriam maiestatem non solum armis decoratam, sed etiam legibus oportet esse armatam, ut utrumque tempus et bellorum et pacis recte possit gubernari!

[Google-translate: "Not only the majesty of the imperial adorned with arms, but also there needs to be armed by the laws, so that these two periods of war and of peace, and can rightly be governed!]

In the Discussion that followed, Mr. J. Stewart Black expanded on the history of codification, then adds: "There exists a Penal Code in every civilised country in the world, with one exception and that exception is England." It was also noted that the Siamese Government rebuffed English suggestions that the new code be modeled on the Penal Code of India, choosing instead to model, as had Belgium, Germany, Japan, Italy, Egypt, etc., on the French Penal Code of 1810 (Code pénal de 1810).[7]

Bhumibol Adulyadej, Rex (2499BE/AD1956). Criminal Code of Thailand/Current  – via Wikisource. {{citation}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)

21st Century

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Notes

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References

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  1. ^ T. Masao, D.C.L., LL.D., Senior Legal Adviser to H.S.M.'s Government and Judge of H.S.M.'s Supreme Court (Digitized 2008) [1908]. "Siamese law : old and new.". In Wright, Arnold; Breakspear, Oliver T (eds.). Twentieth century impressions of Siam (65.3 MB). London&c: Lloyds Greater Britain Publishing Company. p. 91. Retrieved January 28, 2012. Such was also the conclusion arrived at by the writer of the present article in a paper read before the Siam Society of Bangkok in 1905, in which the writer endeavoured to show by textual comparisons that the ancient Siamese laws were derived from the Manuic laws of India. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Dhani Nivat, Prince (1955). "The Reconstruction of Rama I of the Chakri Dynasty" (PDF). Journal of the Siam Society. 43 (1). Siam Society Heritage Trust. Retrieved January 17, 2013. First page of the Law Code of 1805 ... Three Seals. From left to right the seals are: 1. The Royal Lion of the Minister of the Interior; 2. The Trunked Lion of the Minister of Defence; and 3. The Crystal Lotus of the Minister of the Port.
  3. ^ A Case Study on Land Law In Thailand
  4. ^ Lingat, Robert, ed. (1938–39). ประมวลกฎมาย รัชกาลที่ ๑ จุลศักราช ๑๑๕๕ [A compilation of Siamese laws made in the first reign of the Chakkri dynasty, 1806, from the Royal version of the three seals] (in Thai). Vol. in three volumes. Bangkok: University of moral and political sciences. ISBN 01–876485–19–1. OCLC 28518324. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |lay-date= (help)
  5. ^ Dean Meyers (1994). "Siam under siege (1893-1902)" (PDF). Journal of the Siam Society. Vol. 82 § VII (Pt. 2). Siam Society: 121–133. {{cite journal}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  6. ^ The Institutes of Justinian: Introduction The Latin Library (text)
  7. ^ T. Masao, (Toshiki Masao) (1908). "The New Penal Code of Siam" (PDF). Journal of the Siam Society. 5 (2). Siam Society Heritage Trust: 1–23. Retrieved February 20, 2013.

Citations

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[1][1] [2][2] [3] [4][4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

References

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  1. ^ a b Htin Aung 1967: 78–80
  2. ^ a b South 2003: 69
  3. ^ Coedes 1968: 209
  4. ^ a b Harvey 1925: 110–111
  5. ^ Pan Hla 2004: 23
  6. ^ Pan Hla 2004: 35
  7. ^ Phayre 1967: 65
  8. ^ Hall 1960: 34
  9. ^ Griswold-Prasert 1969: 110
  10. ^ T. Masao 1908 1–10


References

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  • Coedes, George (1968). The Indianized states of Southeast Asia (3 ed.).
  • Hall, D.G.E. (1961). Historians of South East Asia. Oxford University Press.
  • Harvey, G. E. (1925). History of Burma: From the Earliest Times to 10 March 1824. London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd.
  • Htin Aung, Maung (1967). A History of Burma. New York and London: Cambridge University Press.
  • Pan Hla, Nai (1968). Razadarit Ayedawbon (in Burmese) (8th printing, 2004 ed.). Yangon: Armanthit Sarpay.
  • Phayre, Lt. Gen. Sir Arthur P. (1883). History of Burma (1967 ed.). London: Susil Gupta.
  • South, Ashley (2003). Mon nationalism and civil war in Burma: the golden sheldrake. Routledge. ISBN 0-7007-1609-2, 9780700716098. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  • Griswold, A. B.; na Nagara, Prasert (1969). "Epigraphic and Historical Studies No. 4: A Law Promulgated By the King of Ayudhyā in 1397 A.D" (PDF). Journal of the Siam Society. 57 (1). Siam Society Heritage Trust: 109–148. Retrieved February 20, 2013.


See also

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