USING LIFE IMPRISONMENT INSTEAD OF THE DEATH PENALTY IN THAILAND

Abstract

        This research aims to study the life imprisonment, as the punishment in lieu of the execution in Thailand. The objectives of the research are to study and analyze 1). The enforcement of the life imprisonment instead of the death penalty in Thailand 2). The opinions regarding the abovementioned substitution 3). The proposal of the fundamental substance of the bill regarding the aforesaid replacement in Thailand. At the present, there are 106 countries around the globe which have abolished the death sentence from the laws, 28 nations have eliminated such punishment in practice but have not yet abrogate the laws. There are 56 states which still practice the execution. Thailand is currently in the last classification. Moreover, there are myriad campaigns around the world, calling for the abolishment of the death penalty and demanding all of the countries to be bound by the International Covenant on the Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), in order to eliminate the death sentence (Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, aiming at the abolition of death penalty).  

         According to the study, the death penalty prescribed in the Criminal Code violates the principle of human dignity which is the universal principle recognized by various nations, and protected under article 4 of the Constitution of Thailand B.E. 2560, states that “Human dignity, rights, liberties and equality of the people shall be protected”. Moreover, such punishment is also against the principles of human rights and the rule of law. Therefore, this research proposes that the life imprisonment should be imposed as the substitute for the capital punishment in Thai Criminal Code, in order to create the new norm of the society permanently, in accordance with the principles regarding the human dignity, the human rights, and the rule of law.