Protection of Citizens' Rights to Police and Prosecutor Investigations According to Thai Criminal Justice Process

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to study problems and solutions to protect people's rights in police investigations and prosecutors in the Thai criminal justice system. Using a qualitative research study with documentary research. Collect qualitative data with in-depth interviews, open-ended questionnaire, and analyze the data with content analysis. The results showed that: 1)The problem of protecting citizens' rights in police investigations and prosecutors in the Thai criminal justice system. The legal system in the criminal justice system in Thailand is a system in which investigative powers are divided and prosecution separately. The investigative power is the duty and power of the investigating officer under the Royal Thai Police. On the other hand, the public prosecutor has the power to investigate only those cases where an offense punishable by Thai law was committed outside the Kingdom of Thailand without the power to investigate general criminal cases. There is no power to control the investigation conducted by investigators and has no power to investigate the case in any way, and 2) The solution to the problem is the enactment of additional laws giving the duties and powers of the public prosecutor to be able to participate in investigations with the police or investigators in all types of criminal cases. Additional legislation in the Criminal Procedure Code The prosecutor shall have the duty and power to conduct an investigation together with the inquiry official, not waiting for the case from the investigating officer alone. Or can only order investigating officers to conduct additional investigations and organize the investigation work of the police in such a way that the amount of work is balanced with the number of investigators. Including providing suitable welfare for the heavy workload and requiring specialized knowledge to be appropriate as it should be, equivalent to the legal work of other organizations. As well as organizing a system for enforce laws that will give citizens greater protection of their rights in the criminal justice process and to be free from interference easily.