Education and Enforcement of Executive Measures in Anticorruption Act, B.E.2551, Case Study The Timing of Allegations of Government Officials

Abstract

This thesis looks into the case of the period of allegations of government officials under The Executive Measures in Anti-Corruption Act, B.E.2551, which is a circumstance to consider receiving a complaint in case of corruption.  The objective is to research the problems and guidelines for resolving the period of allegations that are not appropriate to the actual circumstances, that is to say, the collection of evidence is currently difficult as a result of the availability of changing technology, also, the offense of corruption is not always caused by just one person. In some cases, there may be other accomplice in the offence, such as influencers, higher positions, etc. Also, corruption may be caused by international acts, which makes it difficult to collect evidence.

The results of this research shows that as well as The Executive Measures in Anti-Corruption Act, B.E.2551, which has been established for the period of allegations of misconduct by government officials, there are still laws of similar nature, namely the Organic Act on Corruption Prevention 2018, which is a law of the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, which has been provided for the allegation period of 10 years from the date of the incident until the date of the allegation. In Thailand, in addition to the law of the office National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), the criminal law provisions have been set in regard to the limitations of corruption cases as well, which is determined to consider the penalty rate of each offense as a base for calculating the limitations. As for international law, corruption is a priority, with the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly forming the 2003 United Nation Anti-Corruption Convention, to be used as an international measure to avert and solve corruption problems, where the Convention specifies the period in which the length of time for the complaint is to be extended. Moreover, other countries give this issue of corruption the same importance, for instance, France has considered this offense important for a long time. In Australia, serious offenses like corruption come with high penalties that use the law to allow people to file lawsuits at any time, and People's Democratic Republic of China, predicted the importance of the guilt of corruption by government officials, consequently, they have a high rate of punishment which has been arranged and the prosecutor has given the power to implement discretion. If any offense has serious circumstances and the adequate evidence is available, a lawsuit can be filed with the court that exceeds the legal period limitations.

For the previously mentioned reason, the researcher suggests the implementation of the Organic Act on Corruption Prevention 2018, criminal law and the law relating to the limitations of foreign countries, to apply or change The Executive Measures in Anti-Corruption Act, B.E.2551, which will be effective in extending the period for the allegation to be longer,  moreover, in order to make the law comply with the United Nations Convention Against Corruption 2003, the law may also elevate the law to empower the public prosecutors in considering the allegations made by the Office of Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission who received the complaint, which will make transparency and the process for making allegations more effective.