Volume 125, Issue 30A
Royal Gazette
7 February 2551
Note: The grounds for promulgation of this Act are as follows: At present, the child age criteria designated for cases in which criminal offences are committed by children are not yet proper and still disagree with the child age criteria designated in various laws of Thailand as well as the the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966, to which Thailand has become a party. Medical studies reveal that children aged between seven years and twelve years are void of the sense of conscience and lack the ability to conjecture the outcome which may arise from their action, due to their still imperfect cognitive, intelligent, and ethical development. In addition, statistical studies have been carried out in regard to the commission of offences by children in various ages, which show low or no any statistic of offences committed by children aged between seven years and twelve years. Moreover, many of the Thai laws designate the fifteenth year of age as child age criteria, such as section 5 of the National Identity Cards Act, 2526 BE, which requires Thai nationals to apply for national identity cards upon completing the fifteenth year of age, section 44 of the Labour Protection Act, 2541 BE, which prohibits employers from accepting children under fifteen years of age as their employees, and section 17 of the National Education Act, 2542 BE, which designates that there be compulsory education for nine years and requires children turning seven years old to attend institutions of basic education until turning sixteen years old, thus indicating that fifteen-year-old children are legally accepted as having come of age and being capable of responsibility. Furthermore, children at the said age are still in school and should be given a chance to change and reform their behaviour instead of suffering a criminal punishment. At the same time, the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966, as well as the Act Establishing Juvenile and Family Courts and Juvenile and Family Case Procedure, 2534 BE, designate the age under eighteen years as child age criteria. It is appropriate to amend the Penal Code so as to designate in a proper manner and in line with laws of Thailand and the said international conventions the child age criteria for cases of criminal offences committed by children. Therefore, it is necessary to enact this Act.
