Thai court now hearing many cases online


Thailand’s Administrative Court has been delivering justice more swiftly than ever since it began hearing hundreds of cases online last year, charting a pioneering path for the Kingdom’s judicial court system.
 
Supreme Administrative Court President Piya Patangtha said that the court had been progressively moving its proceedings online since May 2020 when it started to accept court filings electronically.
 
The Administrative Court has gained a reputation for deciding in favor of people and communities and against powerful interests if the evidence warrants it. It mainly deals with complaints against state agencies and public officials. The court was created by the 1997 constitution and was established in 2001 along with the Office of the Ombudsman.
 
Moving proceedings online is proving effective at accelerating the pace of work. From last May until last month, 916 people have requested to have their proceedings held online. The lower Administrative Court has accepted 267 of those cases, 126 of which have been concluded. The Supreme Court has reached verdicts on a total of 17 appeals through its online portal, with two still pending.
 
Piya said that since it was founded, the court had reached a decision in 146,537 cases, equal to 84 percent of all pending cases across all of its courts. Settlements are also being conducting online. Since May 2020, 164 cases, or 80 percent of all settlement cases the court accepted online, have been successfully settled.