Thirayuth, a Thammasat Uni-versity lecturer, told a press conference yesterday that HM the King's April 25 speech in which judicial leaders were urged to step in to resolve the months-long political impasse is regarded as a most visionary message.

"HM the King's speech essentially rendered a new perspective among our judicial leaders as far as their role in the political system is concerned.

"We could say that the Consti-tution Court's May 8 nullification of the April 2 and related polls, as well as the Criminal Court's July 25 verdict against the Election Commis-sion's last three members, are the two most important examples of judicial reviews on Thai politics

at this juncture," Thira-yuth said.

He cited India's judiciary and high courts as an example in which their scope is often ex-panded so that more average citizens could be protected by law.

Another example was Israel's high court, whose leaders have been of

the opinion there could be no legal vacuum in society since every behaviour has a legal dimension.

In other words, there were no "pure" political cases that had no legal issue, he said.

Asked if the Thai judiciary's "increasingly activist" role in politics would be counter-productive in the long run, he said the process of judicial reviews should not be seen as anything separate entirely from the democratic process.

"Judicial reviews are just like another check-and-balance mechanism of a democratic government. They are in parallel with the democratisation process. In fact, the philosophy of justice is much older than that of democracy.

"If judicial reviews are seriously undertaken, the process could help reform Thai politics and society in the long run," he said.

Asked what could serve as a check and balance on judicial power, Thirayuth said academic and rational comments on the judiciary were not prohibited, even though there was the law on contempt of court.

"All in all, some have expressed reservation about judicial power. The US Supreme Court is a good example. Critics have pointed at several weaknesses of the US high court such as the judges are in the post for life or they are not chosen directly by the public etc.

"Yet, the strengths or benefits of the US Supreme Court system have clearly outweighed its weak points," he said.

Thirayuth said it was incorrect for Thaksin Shinawatra, the caretaker PM, to suggest publicly at a Thai-Chinese Chamber of Commerce event on Monday that the process of justice could have contributed to the country's economic problems.

"Whenever the justice process is in doubt or lacks creditability, it's very dangerous. Foreign investment could leave the country or wouldn't be here," the caretaker premier was quoted as saying.

But Thirayuth said in response: "The root causes lie in the wicked political system, rampant corruption, and disabled check-and-balance mechanisms. All these factors have led to the decline in foreign investor confidence.

"In regard to the judicial process, I think the problem is that we have not taken enough legal actions against wrongdoing politicians and bureaucrats," he said.