Administrative Court not involving in Thai politics : top judge

Supreme Administrative Court President Ackaratorn Chularat said that judges were merely doing their jobs in interpreting the intention of the law.

"Judges will by no means exercise their powers other than stated in the Constitution or law," he said.

Ackaratorn said judges were carrying out their job legally and would never allow themselves to be used as political tools.

"It's impossible for courts to become political tools. Courts were set up centuries ago, and they will never allow themselves to be used [that way]," he said.

"It's possible that such an allegation has been made by someone who is unhappy or upset by certain court rulings," he added.

"We [Thai people] may not be familiar with a broad interpretation of the law. I see nothing wrong with this; it's just new to us. This has been common in other countries," Ackaratorn said.

He was speaking at a press conference on the eighth anniversary of the court's establishment, at the new courthouse in the Chaeng Wattana area.

The court president said that for a country to have complete rule of law, sovereignty must be properly shared among the administrative, legislative and judicial branches, there must be scrutiny of the use of power, and the judiciary must be independent.

On the need for political reform, the court president said Thai society should first try to determine the problems and their root causes.

"Anyone can say we need political reform, but the questions are what is political reform and how to go about it," he said.

Ackaratorn said that to determine the root causes, the political problems would be tackled and solved properly. "It's not enough to just amend some provisions of the Constitution," he said.

He also said that efforts for political reform would require leadership by a statesman who was highly capable and widely acceptable. That statesman does not need to be a politician, he added, though he denied having a candidate in mind.

A symposium on "The Rule of Law and Democracy: Sharing Experiences of Thailand and the European Union" is planned for Monday to mark the court's eighth anniversary and the 30th anniversary of the partnership between Thailand and the European Union.

The head of the European Commission's Delegation to Thailand, Ambassador David Lipman, is to give the keynote address. The symposium will also be attended by legal experts from many European countries.

The Administrative Court was established by virtue of the 1997 Constitution as the principal judicial institution to exercise judicial power aimed at striking a balance between the protection of rights and liberties of the people and the public interest.

Over the eight years of its existence it has dealt with 48,290 cases. Rulings have been made in 78 per cent of those cases.