Current and former National Human Rights Commissioners are concerned about changes made by the Council of State to a new law governing the independent body.  The Commission will be prohibited from revealing any information about cases under ongoing investigation, while it will be authorized to pursue court cases on behalf of those whose rights are violated.

In a Matichon report on 29 Nov, National Human Rights Commissioner Niran Pitakwatchara said that the Council of State, the government’s advisory body on legal matters, had made substantial changes to the proposed new National Human Rights Commission law, drafted by the former Commission.

The Council of State has sent the draft to the Commission and affirmed that it will soon submit its version to the Cabinet for approval.

An urgent meeting was called on 30 Nov for members and former members of the NHRC as well as law academics to discuss the latest version.

The major changes which have been made by the Council of State and which are challenged by both present and previous commissioners include Section 43 which prohibits commissioners, members of NHRC sub-committees and NHRC officials to reveal information acquired under authorization under the law, except for the results of cases approved by the Commission or information given in court prosecutions.

Section 51 punishes offences under Section 43 with imprisonment of up to 6 months, or a fine of up to 10,000 baht, or both.

According to Niran, these clauses have appeared out of nowhere; the previous draft did not mention these at all.

The NHRC has written to the Council of State to reject these, but the latter has ignored the rejection, and instead forwarded the draft to the Cabinet, he said.

Sunee Chairos, a former NHRC member and a drafter of the original version, said that the inclusion of Section 43 would complicate NHRC work with complaints and interpretations of the law, further delaying already delayed cases.  The Council of State should not have intervened in the content and detail of the law, and should have let Parliament consider what should be changed.

As the original NHRC draft has gone through many public hearings, it should be almost complete.  Apart from the addition of the two Sections, the clause concerning the NHRC Fund was left out without any explanation, Sunee said.

The meeting on 30 Nov was also supposed to discuss proposals to change the composition of the 7-member selection committee which appoints the NHRC, replacing representatives of the assemblies of the Administrative Court and the Supreme Court with those from the civil sector.

However, the Council of State’s version of the draft authorizes the NHRC to file complaints with the Constitutional Court (Section 44), the Administrative Court (Section 45), and the Court of Justice (Section 46), and to appoint public prosecutors or lawyers to act on behalf of victims in court.