Judges seek commissioner ouster in 'first'

Suebpong Sripongkul (second right), the Chief Judge of Region 2, hands the petition to Deputy secretary-general of the Office of the Judiciary, Sarawut Benjakul, at the Criminal Court in Bangkok on Tuesday. (Photo by Pornprom Satrabhaya)

In a move believed to be the first in the history of the Thai Courts of Justice, a petition signed by 1,776 out of all 4,555 judges nationwide was submitted on Tuesday to the Office of the Judiciary, seeking the impeachment of Judicial Commission member Chamnan Rawiwanpong.

The reason for the requested impeachment of Mr Chamnan has not been formally disclosed.

The impeachment move was led by Suebpong Sripongkul, the Chief Judge of Region 2, who previously sent letters to every judge, requesting that they formally respond to these letters by sending a copy of their identification card and a completed reply form if they support the move.

The impeachment is allowed under Section 42 of the 2000 Act on regulations for judicial civil servants.

Deputy secretary-general of the Office of the Judiciary, Sarawut Benjakul, accepted the petition on Tuesday.

After this, Mr Sarawut said, the submitted documents will be verified and if all of them are accurate, the lists of judges supporting the impeachment petition will then be posted at both the Office of the Judiciary and courts nationwide.

Members in favour of the impeachment petition can withdraw their names within 20 days of the publication date of the official list of supporters.

Although the names of judges supporting the petition are public, the names of those who vote on the impeachment will not be released.

One-fifth of all 4,555 judges, are required to support an impeachment petition when it is accepted, while at least half of all votes by all 4,555 judges is required to approve the impeachment.

The vote on the impeachment petition is expected within 30 days, according to the same source.

Judge Chamnan will be suspended while awaiting the impeachment procedure.

He described the judges' overwhelming response to the impeachment move as a successful attempt to show the public that the Courts of Justice are capable of self regulation, the source said.

Mr Sarawut also encouraged all judges to exercise their rights to vote on the impeachment "in order to protect the judicial institution" from what he described as a disgrace, said the same source.