Problems and Obstacles of the People Accessing the Administrative Justice Process

Abstract

The purpose of writing this article is (1) to study and analyze the court system and preliminary administrative court procedures in order to create knowledge and understanding in the administrative justice process and (2) to study and analyze problems and obstacles of people accessing the administrative justice process so that they can access the justice process with ease and speed and without unreasonably high costs according to the provisions of the State Dharma of the Kingdom of Thailand, B.E. 2560 (2017), Section 68 in conjunction with Section 258 that certifies the right of the people to access the administrative justice process. From the study and analysis, the authors found that the operation of the Administrative Court may have some problems that should be improved in 3 areas: 1. Jurisdictional issues such as in the case of problems with the power of the Administrative Court in the trial and adjudication of administrative matters have been filed against their legal preferences of administrative acts of administrative bodies or government officials. This may be an issue related to land rights. 2. Issues regarding the administrative court structure, that is, the Administrative Court of Thailand is divided into two classes: the Administrative Court of First Instance and the Supreme Administrative Court. When an administrative dispute enters the Administrative Court of First Instance, and the court issues a verdict or an order of an administrative case. If either party is dissatisfied with the judgment or order, the party has the right to appeal against it to the Supreme Administrative Court which may cause most administrative cases to be pending in the Supreme Administrative Court, and 3. Problems of helping people in administrative proceedings. As the administrative claim is a dispute between the private sector and the administrative agency or government official which may not be equal, most people need to gain knowledge of administrative issues, which may be an obstacle to the public in accessing the administrative justice process. The author, therefore, suggests that: 1. Regarding jurisdiction, the issue should be brought to the general meeting of judges of the Supreme Administrative Court for consideration so that they can consider the legality of the administrative action of the government agencies or officials who have problems with land ownership. 2. In terms of the structure of the Administrative Court, there are two approaches. First, for the establishment of the Administrative Court of Appeal, the administrative courts of Thailand should be restructured to establish an Administrative Court of Appeal by amending the Act on Establishment of Administrative Courts and Administrative Courts Procedure, B.E. 2542. For the second approach, in the case of not establishing an Administrative Court of Appeal, the rules should be amended. Regulations related to the advancement of the Supreme Administrative Court which allows judges of the Administrative Court of First Instance should be able to take up the position of a judge of the Supreme Administrative Court to be able to increase the number of judges of the court to be appropriate with the increasing volume of administrative cases.