The Thai Legal System, part 2 of 3 Posted by palmisano on Sep 21, 2010 in Intermediate
Part 1 covers vocabulary you’d expect to use before you end up in a courtroom. Now that you’ve been arrested and you failed to pay a proper bribe, it’s time to be judged without a jury. You will not have access to any incriminating evidence or witnesses until court is in session. And if your crime is political, a secret trial wouldn’t be unusual. Oh and sorry for the negativity, but courtrooms of 3rd-world countries such as Thailand aren’t designed to be fair!
For a quick summary of the Thai legal system, this site has a lot of useful information:
http://chiangmai.usconsulate.gov/service/services/legal-matters-in-thailand/index.html
As you should know, the judgment in Thailand will be made by just one or several judges, called คณะตุลาการ. A jury, like you’d find in a western court, would be called คณะลูกขุน.
vocabulary (คำศัพท์):
ศาล court
ศาลฎีกา The Supreme Court
ศาลยุติธรรม Court of Justice
ศาลรัฐธรรมนูญ Constitutional Court
รัฐธรรมนูญ constitution
หมายศาล, หมายเรียก court warrant; summons; subpoena; court order
เดินหมาย to serve a warrant or summons to court
ขื้นศาล go to court, to litigate
ผู้พิพากษา judge of the court
คณะตุลาการ the judge(s) that decide the result of the case
ชำระ to judge (a legal case)
สาบานตัว to take a legal oath, to swear
คดี case (case in court, or investigative case)
แถลงคดี to state the case before a court of law
คำแถลงปิดคดี closing argument before a court of law
คำแถลงเปิดคดี opening argument before a court of law
ผู้ต้องสงสัย (the) suspect (in a crime)
ผู้ต้องหา a person charged with an offense; alleged offender
เมินศาล to ignore a court of law
นักกฎหมาย lawyer
ทนาย lawyer, attorney, counsel
ความเทจ perjury
เอกสานทางกฎหมาย legal document
คณะลูกขุน jury
ข้อกล่าวหา criminal charge, indictment, legal violation
ค้าน to dispute, to argue against
เจ้าทุกข์ complainant, plaintiff, victim
จำเลย defendant, accused person
คำพยาน presented evidence (in court)
พยานบุคคล witness, oral evidence
พยานปากเอก a prime witness who can provide incriminating oral evidence
พยานแวดล้อม circumstantial evidence
ฟ้องแย้ง to present a counter claim
มาตรา clause, article, section, provision
อุทธรณ์ to make a legal appeal
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