Translation:Criminal Code Amendment Act (No 21), 2551 BE

by National Legislative Assembly of Thailand (2006)

Table of contents

Act

Preamble

Section

1. Title
2. Commencement
3. Amendment to section 41: child incarceration
4. Amendment to section 46: execution of bond
5. Amendment to section 73: liability of children not yet over 10 years of age
6. Amendment to section 74: liability of children between 10–15 years of age
7. Amendment to sections 75–76: liability of persons between 15–20 years of age
8. Amendment to section 94: increase of punishments for persons not yet over 18 years of age

Statement of grounds

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Seal of the Royal Command

Criminal Code Amendment
Act (No 21),
2551 BE

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Bhumibol Adulyadej R
Given on the 31st day of January 2551 BE
Being the 63rd year of the present reign

His Majesty King Maha Bhumibol Adulyadej is pleased to give a Great Royal Command that it be announced as follows:

Whereas it is appropriate to amend the Criminal Code;

Therefore, by and with the advice and consent of the National Legislative Assembly, He is graciously pleased to enact the following Act:

Section1.This Act is called the Criminal Code Amendment Act (No 21), 2551 BE.

Section2.This Act shall enter into operation from the day following the day of its publication in the Royal Gazette onwards.

Section3.The disposition of paragraph 2 of section 41 of the Criminal Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following disposition:

“Offences committed by offenders whilst being under eighteen years of age shall not be deemed to be offences which may be taken into consideration for incarceration according to this section.”

Section4.The dispositions of section 46 of the Criminal Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following dispositions:

“Section46.If a court learns from a proposal of a public prosecutor that any person is to cause an unfavourable incident dangerous to the person or property of another person or is to commit any act detrimental to the environment or natural resources according to the law on environment and natural resources, or in trying any offence, if there arises a reason to believe that the person charged is likely to cause an unfavourable incident dangerous to the person or property of another person or is to commit any act detrimental to the environment or natural resources according to the law on environment and natural resources, whether or not he would be punished by the court, the court shall have the power to order him to post a bond in a sum of not more than fifty thousand baht, with or without security, for refraining from causing the unfavourable incident or committing the offence previously mentioned throughout the time designated by the court but not over two years.

If he refuses to post the bond or fails to provide security, the court shall have the power to order his confinement until the bond is posted or security is provided successfully, but the confinement shall not be longer than six months, or the court may order him to be prohibited from entering the areas designated under section 45.

The acts of a person under eighteen years of age shall not be subject to the provisions of this section.”

Section5.The dispositions of section 73 of the Criminal Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following dispositions:

“Section73.⁠A child still not older than ten years who commits an act which the law provides to be an offence is not required to be punished.

The inquiry officer shall send the child under paragraph 1 to a competent officer under the law on child protection so that the welfare protection under the law thereon would be implemented.”

Section6.The disposition of paragraph 1 of section 74 of the Criminal Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following disposition:

“Section74.A child older than ten years but still not than fifteen years who commits an act which the law provides to be an offence is not required to be punished, but the court shall have the power to do as follows:

(1)⁠the child may be given admonition or warning and then released, and if the court finds it appropriate, it may summon the father, mother, guardian, or person with whom the child resides to appear and receive warning also;

(2)if the court finds that the father, mother, or guardian is still able to take care of the child, the court may give an order entrusting the child to the father, mother, or guardian, laying down an ordinance requiring the father, mother, or guardian to prevent the child from causing unfavourable incidents throughout the time designated by the court, which must not be over three years, and designating an amount of money as may be found appropriate, but not over ten thousand baht, which the father, mother, or guardian will have to pay to the court every time the child causes an unfavourable incident;

if the child resides with another person than the father, mother, or guardian, and the court finds that it is not appropriate to summon the father, mother, or guardian to appear and attend the laying down of the previously mentioned ordinance, the court may summon the person with whom the child resides to appear, and ask him if he would accept an ordinance similar to one provided for the father, mother, or guardian as previously mentioned, and if the person with whom the child resides accepts such ordinance, the court shall give an order entrusting the child to such person and laying down the mentioned ordinance;

(3)⁠in the event that the court entrusts the child to the father, mother, guardian, or person with whom the child resides according to (2), the court may also designate for the child the same conditions for supervision of behaviour as those provided in section 56; in such event, the court shall appoint a probation officer or any other officer to supervise the behaviour of the child;

(4)⁠if the child has no father, mother, or guardian, or has one whom the court, however, finds unable to take care of the child, or in the event that the child resides with another person than the father, mother, or guardian, and the person refuses to accept the ordinance mentioned in (2), the court may give an order entrusting the child to a person or organisation that the court finds appropriate for the purpose of providing care, instruction, and teaching for a time period designated by the court, when the person or organisation consents thereto; in such event, the person or organisation shall have the power as a guardian only for the purpose of providing care, instruction, and teaching, as well as for designating the residence and arranging for the child to carry out work as appropriate, or the welfare protection under the law thereon may be implemented for the child; or

(5)the child may be committed to a school, place of training and instruction, or place set up for training and instructing children, for a time period designated by the court but not exceeding the day the child reaches the eighteenth year of age.”

⁠Section7.The dispositions of sections 75 and 76 of the Criminal Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following dispositions:

“Section75.When any person who is older than fifteen years but younger than eighteen years commits an act which the law provides to be an offence, the court shall consider his discernment of right from wrong and all other things relating to him in order to rule whether he should be adjudged to punishment. If the court finds that he should not be adjudged to punishment, it shall proceed in accordance with section 74, or if the court finds that he should be adjudged to punishment, it shall decrease the scale of punishment designated for his offence by one half.

Section76.When any person who is eighteen years old or older but still not older than twenty years commits an act which the law provides to be an offence, the court may, if found appropriate, decrease the scale of punishment designated for his offence by one third or one half.”

Section8.The disposition of section 94 of the Criminal Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following disposition:

“Section94.Offences committed through negligence, petty offences, and offences committed by offenders whilst being under eighteen years of age, whether committed on previous occasions or on subsequent occasions, are not deemed to be offences for which the punishment can be increased in accordance with the dispositions of this Chapter.”

Countersignature
General Surayud Chulanont
Prime Minister

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 at 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 mentioned 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 Establishment of Juvenile and Family Courts and Juvenile and Family Case Procedure Act, 2534 BE, designate the age under eighteen years as child age criteria. It is appropriate to amend the Criminal Code so as to designate in a proper manner and in line with laws of Thailand and the mentioned international conventions the child age criteria for cases of criminal offences committed by children. It is therefore necessary to enact this Act.