Search Results for: thailand constitution

The Constitutional Court of Thailand ruled Wednesday that the opposition Move Forward Party’s (MFP) efforts to change the country’s royal insult law are illegal, ordering a cessation of any attempts to push for change. The ruling creates the potential for political bans on the party and its members if found in violation of the law. [...]

Thailand activist and lawyer Arnon Nampa received his second conviction and four more years of imprisonment Wednesday for a case of royal defamation related to social media posts from 2021. Defamation of Thai royalty is a punishable offence under the Thai Criminal Code, referred to as the lese-majeste law.  According to a report by Nampa’s volunteer [...]

The House of Representatives of Thailand passed four bills on Thursday that propose to amend the country’s Civil and Commercial Code and legalize same-sex marriage. The four bills seek to change the wording such as “men and women” and “husband and wife” in the Civil and Commercial Code to “individuals” and “marriage partners,” allowing same-sex [...]

The UK Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a Guantanamo Bay prisoner held by the US can bring a claim in the English and Welsh courts against UK authorities. The detainee, Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn (Zubaydah), alleged that British intelligence services asked the  CIA to interrogate Zubaydah and sent the spy agency numerous questions to elicit [...]

The Thai Royal Gazette announced on Friday that Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn granted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra a royal pardon, reducing Thaksin’s eight-year prison sentence to one year. A royal pardon, which may be granted as an unconditional release or commutation of punishment at the discretion of Thailand’s king, is the act of forgiving [...]

Pita Limjaroenrat, a leading progressive candidate for Thai prime minister, failed on Thursday to obtain enough votes to secure the leadership position in Thai’s Parliament. During a joint parliamentary session, Pita fell short of the prime minister position by 52 votes, despite garnering overwhelming support in the May general election over the ruling military-backed government [...]

Thailand’s Central Juvenile and Family Court ordered Thursday the release of Thanalop “Yok” Phalanchai, a 15-year-old girl who was detained in the Ban Pranee Juvenile Vocational Training Centre for Girls. Yok, who was arrested on March 28 and detained for a total of 51 days, was charged under Section 112 of Thailand’s Criminal Code for [...]

Thailand’s two major pro-democracy opposition parties—Move Forward Party and Pheu Thai—won a landslide in national elections on Sunday. The result reflected Thai voters’ rejection of the military-backed government, which has dominated the political scene for nearly a decade. According to a forecast on Monday, the Move Forward Party, whose reformist ideology grew in popularity among [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) Friday called on Thai authorities to release a 15-year-old student activist who was detained after allegedly defaming the nation’s monarchy. Thanalop “Yok” Phalanchai was arrested in Bangkok on 28 March after police accused her of criticising the monarchy during a protest rally in October 2022. She was later charged with lèse-majesté [...]

The US Department of Defense (DoD) Thursday confirmed the release from Guantanamo Bay of Majid Khan, a former money courier for al-Qaeda. The release follows a transfer agreement between the US and Belize. The deal, which will see the Central American country of Belize house Khan within its borders, is the first of its kind [...]