From: kamol@ipied.tu.ac.TH (Kamol Hengkietisak)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.thai
Subject: Oct 9: House sets up committee to reform Judicial Commission
Date: 10 Oct 1992 08:38:08 +1000
Organization: Mail/News gateway

THE Lower House yesterday agreed to set up a 42-man special 
committee to study the structure of the Judicial Commission and 
ways to rebuild the image of the judiciary after the damage 
caused it by more than a year of internal squabbles.
 
The House decision was based on four separate urgent motions 
proposed by the Democrat, Palang Dharma, Chart Thai and Chart 
Pattana parties.
 
The parties called for the establishment of a special committee 
to study the commission's structure following the House decision 
Wednesday to dump an executive decree to restructure the 
commission proposed by the previous Anand Panyarachun Government.
 
The special committee will comprise members from all political 
parties as well as six outsiders who will include legal experts 
and judges who opposed the decree's introduction by the Anand 
Panyarachun Government.
 
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai said it was the Lower House's choice 
to nominate several dissident judges and their supporters to sit 
on the special committee.
 
He said the action had nothing to do with the Government.
 
The Government will set up its own committee to study the issue 
and will accept proposals from the House special committee for 
consideration only if it feels they are worthwhile.
 
Mr Chuan also said the Government would not pay any attention to 
whether the House special committee came up with recommendations 
which would allow the future Judicial Commission to exercise its 
power to help politicians affected by the assets seizure order.
 
"If we are to be concerned with this, we may have to be concerned 
with everything," he said.
 
The Premier said the Government would stress the new structure of 
the Judicial Commission but not pay any interest to the 
individuals appointed to help study the issue.
 
In another development eight elected members of the former 12-man 
Judicial Commission have said they would be willing to resign to 
make way for a new election, an informed judicial source said 
yesterday.
 
After Parliament rejected the Judiciary Reform Decree, the source 
said, the eight former commission members agreed among themselves 
that they should quit to give the judges a chance to elect a new 
commission.
 
The old commission was made up of 12 members -- eight elected and 
four ex-officio. The commission created by the decree will have 
28 members.
 
The eight include Supreme Court chief judge Pramarn Chansue, vice 
president Kiang Boonperm, former presidents Prawit Kamparat, 
Banyat Suchiva and Sophon Rattanakorn, former vice president 
Surat Sri-anupan, chief judge Veerachai Sootsuwan, and former 
Appeals Court chief justice Yongyuth Lerlop.
 
The source said a krathin tour to Kanchanaburi was also planned 
for October 30 by dissident judges to "cleanse the judiciary of 
bad luck."
 
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai yesterday stressed the need to 
reform the commission, but said judges would be allowed a say in 
the restructure.
 
He said he would like the reforms to be acceptable to all 
parties. He said a judiciary reform bill will likely be submitted 
to Parliament after he presents the Government's policy statement 
in Parliament.
 
Asked if he is afraid of being "influenced" by certain commission 
members who would be invited to consider the reforms, Mr Chuan 
said he was not, and that he is duty-bound to solve the problem.
 
"I sympathise with the former government for not being able to 
solve this problem. It is our duty to carry on the task," he 
said.
 
He doesn't believe there is a powerful clique in the Justice 
Ministry, "but personal popularity is another matter," he said.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.thai