Rights Protection in Thailand 2015 – Reflections on Book I Chapter 2 of the Draft Constitution

28 May, 2015, Ariston Hotel, Bangkok

Jointly hosted by the

German-Southeast Asian Center of Excellence for Public Policy and Good Governance (CPG), Faculty of Law, Thammasat University; Thai Committee for Refugees Foundation; Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies, Mahidol University; Hanns Seidel Foundation

Agenda

Co-hosts’ general assessments on the concept and system of rights protection according to the Draft Constitution

Henning Glaser, Director, German-Southeast Asian Center of Excellence for Public Policy and Good Governance (CPG), Faculty of Law, Thammasat University

Veerawit Tianchainan, Executive Director, Thai Committee for Refugees Foundation

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gothom Arya, Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies, Mahidol University

Report

Roundtable “Rights Protection in Thailand 2015 Human Rights and Peace Studies, Mahidol University, and Hans Seidel Foundation jointly hosted the roundtable “Rights Protection in Thailand 2015 – Reflections on Book I Chapter 2 of the Draft Constitution”.

The roundtable opened with the co-hosts’ general assessments on the concept and system of rights protection according to the current draft of the new Thai Constitution.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gothom Arya, Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies, Mahidol University, analyzed the intended system of rights protection and particularly pointed to the introduction of numerous new terms which still need to be clarified. Henning Glaser, CPG Director, highlighted positive innovations as well as shortcomings of the draft with special emphasis on the link between rights and duties as well as the scope of the principle of proportionality. Veerawit Tianchainan,

Executive Director, Thai Committee for Refugees Foundation, focused on the impact that the new constitution could have on refugees as well as migrants in general. He particularly pointed to the differentiation between human rights and citizen rights.

These introductory statements were followed by  a vivid discussion among the participants on a wide range of topics related to rights section of the Draft Charter. A shared concern among all participants was the vagueness of core terms and the wide space given to possible restrictions of rights.

Photos