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people who’ve been in conflicts, the needs for justice to be served
is so real. And, I think, they need to have better rule of law … the
law they can believe that it’s just for them is very important.

Even though conflicts are normal phenomenon in any
society, when conflicts arise, we need an institution or mechanism
accepted by all to settle them peacefully. And that is the role of
the justice system. So, I can obviously see that trust in the justice
system is the key element to peaceful society and the key to this
ultimate lies in the principle of the rule of law.

However, looking back to reality in Thailand, there are many
challenges in relations to the rule of law that we are facing. The
lack thereof causes newer problems beyond imagine. And, today,
I’d like to share with you my humble observation about the
situation of the rule of law in Thailand through the courses of my
work, both from the field of criminal justice and conflict.

The past political impacts in Thailand demonstrate the
damaging effects that a weak rule of law can have on the quality
of democracy and on the relationship between citizens and
government.

In 2010 to 2012, I was assigned to join the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission of Thailand or TRCT and, to seek
truth and solutions for a political bloodshed in 2010. And one
thing we have found from long series of meeting is that all
stakeholders, ranging from victims through society, business
sectors, students, NGOs and government officials … was that, out
of many factors contributed to the problems, the conflicts that we
have, the rule of law plays a part in escalating the severity of the
situation. That was because the rule of law was a common claim
from all sides of the conflicts. One side demanded the other side
to abide by the judicial decision from the court of justice or
independent judicial institutions or in their view, to act in
accordance with the rule of law.

The other side argued that decision in question or the
process of investigation and judication did not come from the
impartial, non-bias judication process. And, as a result, the

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