The rule of law: from abstract to concrete for Thai society

Illustration from Matichon Online

Assistant Professor Nopadol Pakornnimitdee
Faculty of Law

The rule of law means “the fundamental principle of law that any law, judicial process, or action must not violate, contradict, or conflict with the rule of law.” It can be divided into two types:

1. The strict rule of law, or the rule of law in the narrow sense
2. The rule of law in general, or the rule of law in a broad sense

Text from page 1 of the book “Rule of Law”, produced by the Academic Subcommittee on Rule of Law.
National Dharma and the Subcommittee of Editors of the Rule of Law Book in the Independent Committee on the Promotion of the Rule of Law of the Nation

Many laws usually have definitions of legal terms in the first paragraphs of that law so that lawyers or readers of the law in general can understand the meaning of legal terms when they come across them in the law that we are reading. However, sometimes the definitions of legal terms appear hidden in other positions in the law, for example, they may be in a position that is far from the first section, such as Section 149 of the Civil and Commercial Code, which defines the meaning of the word “juristic act” as follows:
However, the definition of the word “rule of law” is almost impossible to find in any of our Thai laws. Even the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand 2007, Section 3, Paragraph 2, states that “the performance of duties of the Parliament, the Cabinet, the Court, including constitutional organizations and government agencies must be in accordance with the rule of law.” The performance of duties that must be in accordance with the rule of law has become a mysterious issue or a matter of interpretation based on people’s attitudes, feelings and thoughts when there is a dispute in Thai society.
Although in the past Thai legal textbooks of some senior teachers who taught the law used to explain the meaning of the word “rule of law” together with the word “rule of law”, there is no clear explanation of the word “rule of law” in the highest law of the country.
It is not strange that the ambiguity or the creation of definitions based on the attitudes of those who claim the “rule of law” has led to confusion in society because different people think and speak from their own perspectives. Some people misunderstand the meaning of the rule of law by adding Buddhist principles to the law, which is unlikely to be a correct view.
In the issue of legal term definitions, if there is a clear definition or analysis of terms, it may be an obstacle to the interpretation of the law by law users for the benefit of justice. Because if the definition of terms is not comprehensive, it will cause problems in the use of the law to benefit justice. Therefore, in the past, sometimes the drafting of laws has been drafted in a way that seems to leave room for the court to interpret in the future.
The issue is that the rule of law 1. should have a clear definition in the highest law of the country, or as some professors have suggested, there should be an organic law on the rule of law to explain the meaning of the term rule of law, or 2. should be stipulated in a broad sense, that is, it only says that duties must be performed in accordance with the rule of law, so that the interpretation of the law is flexible and consistent with new facts that may arise in the future.
When the word “rule of law” is something that people in Thai society know and use more, and sometimes use it incorrectly, studying, researching, and providing knowledge and understanding to the public and the general public about the rule of law is something that should be done, more than letting it become an abstraction that is known only in the legal circle.
Some words are difficult to define in their entirety, such as the words goodness, correctness, justice, your good and my good may not be the same. If we use our own attitudes and opinions to define them, just like the word rule of law, it is difficult to define them in their entirety. Studying ideas from abroad and researching specific forms of the rule of law that are consistent with the conditions of Thai society in order to create a common ground among people in society, should be a good way to develop the rule of law, which is still an abstract concept, into something clear and concrete for Thai society.