Volume 131, Issue 55A
Royal Gazette
22 July 2557
In the case that a Member of the National Legislative Assembly is held in custody or detention, his release shall be ordered upon request of the President of the National Legislative Assembly, or when a criminal case is filed against him, the court shall be able to proceed with the trial of the case, save where the President of the National Legislative Assembly requests a stay of the trial.
Section19.The Monarch appoints one Prime Minister in accordance with a resolution of the National Legislative Assembly and [appoints] other Ministers numbering not more than thirty-five in accordance with the advice presented by the Prime Minister. They make up a Council of Ministers which has the duties to administer the public services of the State, to implement the reform in various fields, and to promote unity and harmony amongst the people in the Nation.
Prior to assuming duties, a Minister must, in the presence of the Monarch, take an oath of allegiance in the following formula: "I, (name of the oath taker), hereby take an oath of allegiance, declaring that I will be loyal to the Monarch and will perform my duties faithfully and honestly for the benefit of the Country and the people, and will also preserve and observe the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand in every respect."
The Monarch wields the prerogative to remove the Prime Minister from his position in accordance with the advice presented by the President of the National Legislative Assembly upon a resolution passed by the National Legislative Assembly following a proposal of the National Council for Peace and Order, and to remove a Minister from his position in accordance with the advice presented by the Prime Minister.
In appointing a Prime Minister and removing the Prime Minister from his position, the President of the National Legislative Assembly shall give a countersignature.
The Prime Minister and Ministers have the right to attend and give explanations or express opinions at meetings of the National Legislative Assembly and National Reform Assembly, but they have no right to vote, and the privilege under section 18 shall also apply mutatis mutandis to the giving of explanations or expression of opinions by the Prime Minister and the Ministers in accordance with this section.
Section20.The Prime Minister and Ministers must be qualified and not be disqualified as follows:
(1)being of the Thai nationality by birth;
(2)being of the age not lower than forty years;
(3)having graduated with a degree not lower than a bachelor's one or an equivalent;
(4)not being or having been during the period of three years prior to the day of appointment a member of a political party, and not being disqualified according to section 8;
(5)not being a Member of the National Legislative Assembly, Member of the National Reform Assembly, Member of the Constitution Drafting Committee, or member of a local assembly, or a local executive;
(6)not being a Justice of the Constitutional Court, a judge or justice, a public prosecutor, a Member of the Election Commission, an Ombudsman, a Member of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, a Member of the State Audit Commission, the Auditor-General, or a Member of the National Human Rights Commission.
The ministership of the Prime Minister or Minister terminates upon lack of a qualification or presence of a disqualification according to paragraph 1, or upon occurrence of the case under section 9(1) or (2).
