Quadrimester Newsletter Vol. 2: February – May 2020

The Administrative Court marks its 19th anniversary by gearing up to become a "smart court"*

Hon. Piya Patangta, President of the Supreme Administrative Court, announced the policy for fiscal year 2020 as “The Year of Administrative Justice Development in Compliance with International Standards”. During his summary of operations for 2019 to the media and the public on 9 March 2020, Hon. Piya Patangta added that "All parties in society must be able to access justice through modern technology".

Some significant points in the President’s summary of operations for 2019 deserve highlighting. *Written by Mr. Saenghirun Sakarin, International Cooperation Group 3, Bureau of Foreign Affairs

First, the court announced its progress in finalizing cases. According to administrative case statistics for the last 19 years up to 31 January 2020, the Administrative Court registered a total of 162,079 cases. Of these, 114,724 cases were filed with the Administrative Courts of First Instance. Appeals and cases filed directly with the Supreme Administrative Court totalled 47,355 cases. Of all cases filed with the Administrative Court, 135,148 cases, or 83.8 percent, have been finalized.

Second, it is often assumed that "winning" and "losing" is what matters most to those who have encounters with courts. However, this is not what counts most in shaping the public’s trust and confidence. The Administrative Court has made progress in its operation by amending laws to make case management more effective. For instance, the Act on Establishment of Administrative Courts and Administrative Court Procedure, (No.12), B.E. 2562 (2019) as well as related regulations were amended to allow the use of mediation for resolving administrative disputes. These amendments will allow rulings, and the process of enforcing a judgment, to be more effective and also provide useful alternative approaches for parties to resolve their disputes. The use of mediation in the Administrative Court has been officially accepted since 31 August 2019 and up to 15 February 2020 the court registered a total of 61 cases that chose mediation. Of these, 35 cases were successfully resolved with a satisfactory agreement between both parties.

The third point to be highlighted is the President’s statement about improved performance efficiency that is aligned with public service delivery. One way in which the Administrative Court improved its performance efficiency was by starting online petition service under its e-court system which makes the processing of cases pending in court more convenient and faster. Since 30 May 2019, the court has allowed authorities and plaintiffs to proceed and monitor their legal cases online. So far, 241 people have registered via this channel, most access information on cases filed with the Central Administrative Court. Following is a description of the process used in implementing the Court’s online petition service.

Performance Efficiency: How to become a “smart court” in the future. Big Data: In the beginning, big data technology – Optical Character Recognition –

was used to compile and collate all complaints and testimonies as well as documentary, audio and visual evidence into accessible digital formats.

AI: Next, artificial intelligence (AI) – Machine learning and Cloud computing – was used to digitalize day-to-day work. For example,

AI will allow court officials to handle larger numbers of documents and thereby increase the efficiency of their administrative work. It will also help judges search for laws and past verdicts categorized by types of legal cases.

In the future, the court wants to develop an automated template to help draft verdicts as well as use AI to analyze complaints and testimony to verify their credibility. This will enable judges to hand down rulings faster and will ultimately ensure justice is better served for those who need it most in the future.

Public Service Delivery: What is the court performing for public service? Public Service Application: The court has developed a mobile application – easy-

e-Admincourt – to allow parties to submit their cases online and provides easy access to court services anytime and anywhere. Some innovative gadgets like a service robot will be used to facilitate court users at the reception area as well.

Project for Public Service Improvement: The court emphasizes promoting and improving public services. In recent years, court staff have been motivated to make improvements in activities and services.

Improvement of court service in the central and regional courts. The Information Service Center will become a “One Stop Service” for those who come to receive services at the court building.

Court activities – easy-way communication. The court is disseminating knowledge and understanding relating administrative law through online channels and openly providing information on how the court is performing so that court users will be able to access information on its efficiency, effectiveness and transparency.

The fourth point to be highlighted is the President’s pledge during his announcement to make the court “smarter” this year: “In 2020, the Administrative Court will be able to provide complete e-service procedures”. He further mentioned that the court is planning to provide convenient, easy, expeditious, economical, and technology-based access to transparent administrative judicial proceedings for all.

Finally, the President also emphasized balancing personal life and work as expressed in the concept of “Happy Organization or Happy Workplace”. The well-being of the court not only refers to its productivity as shown in total number of resolved cases but also to the health, quality of life and well-being of court staff. So, the court has organized leisure and recreational activities that court staff can engage in during their free time—activities that are not work oriented so that they can relax in the workplace. The court also provides some specialists to give “advice” for those who need to better their state of mind and physical health, both in the central and regional courts.

Throughout last year, the court continuously strove to improve its public service and make it more effective and efficient. According to the Research Institute and Consultancy, Thammasat University, results consistently show improved perceptions and opinions of those who receive public services: “The fiscal year 2019 survey revealed that court users, based on individual experiences, trust and have confidence in administrative justice rendered by the Administrative Court (88.05%) and are satisfied with the quality of services provided by the Office of the Administrative Courts (97.42%)”.

Interesting Administrative Cases

An Unlawful Factory Operation Permit*

Mr. V. (Plaintiff) claimed that Rayong Provincial Governor (Defendant No.1) unlawfully issued a factory operation permit to K Mix Concrete Co., Ltd. (Defendant No.3) as the issuance of the permit did not comply with the Regulations of the Ministry of Industry regarding conducting a Public Hearing on Approval of Factory Operation Commencement, Factory Operation Permit, or Factory Expansion Permit according to the Factory Act, B.E. 2555 (2012). As a consequence, Mr. V., who lived near the factory, was not able to receive information about a factory operation nor given the right to express an opinion on such matter. Therefore, Mr. V. brought this case to the Administrative Court requesting a revocation of the factory operation permit issued by the Rayong Provincial Governor.

The Supreme Administrative Court held that the issue in this case was whether the factory license issued by the Rayong Provincial Governor was lawful and whether the public hearing process was in accordance with the relevant regulation requiring an agency to arrange a public hearing and to post a notice announcing about the event at the provincial industrial office, the district office, the office of the local administration, and the factory before issuing a factory license. The Court concluded that these proceedings were significant because they protected the rights of local residents to receive information and express an opinion on whether a factory operation might affect the quality of the environment or their health, sanitary conditions, or quality of life. Thus, agencies should comply with the requirements of the relevant regulation. In this case, Mr. V. argued that the Rayong Provincial Governor provided the permit to K Mix Concrete Co., Ltd but had not posted any notices to inform residents in the area around the proposed factory area. Rayong Provincial Governor explained that he ordered the Mayor of Thapma Subdistrict (Defendant No.2) to post notices near the proposed factory. * Summarized by Mr. Thirat Porntawesub, Bachelor of Laws (LL.B., 2nd Class Honour), Chulalongkorn University, Master of Laws (LL.M.), George Washington University, USA, Administrative Case Official, Practitioner Level, Public Law Study Group 3, Bureau of Research and Technical Affairs, the Office of the Administrative Courts..

The Court stated that as the notice announcing the public hearing was a significant procedure, an agency must be able to provide concrete evidence that it had followed the Regulation, such as a document or a photo showing the location of the post. However, the Rayong Provincial Governor claimed that his agency had carried out the procedure but had no supporting evidence. Thus, Defendant No. 1 was not able to confirm that his agency had posted the notification and complied with the Regulation. It was therefore decided that the order for granting the factory operation permit issued by Defendant No.1 was unlawful. The Supreme Administrative Court later affirmed the decision of the Administrative Court of First Instance to revoke the issuance of the permit effective retrospectively from the day the permit was issued, pursuant to Section 72 paragraph two of the Act on Establishment of Administrative Courts and Administrative Court Procedure, B.E 2542 (1999).

(Supreme Administrative Court Judgment No. A.E. 14/2562)

Activities

The Administrative Court of Thailand has implemented an e-Litigation portal system to support administrative case procedure starting from the submission of a plaint through to the delivery of judgment or order and case execution. Users can access the e-Litigation portal system anytime and anywhere via http://elitigation.admincourt.go.th. After registering, the user can login into the system to prepare and file documents to the Court electronically by following the two simple steps: First, login by entering the username and password sent to the user’s registered email; and second, apply either to submit a plaint, lodge an application, an answer or an appeal. In each step, the user has to provide information and/or upload required documents . The system will allow the user to preview and verify the case details and the uploaded documents before confirming it for submission. After submission, the user will receive an automated response message via registered email confirming that the submission has been received. The e-Litigation portal system will result in enhanced accessibility and increased public trust in the judicial process.

The Administrative Court of Thailand implements e-Litigation portal system to provide better service delivery to the public.

During a study visit to the People’s Republic of China on 4-10 January 2020, H.E. Mr. Piya Patangta, President of the Supreme Administrative Court, and his delegation paid a visit to China National Judges College, the Supreme People’s Courts of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing on 7 January 2020 to observe its operation in areas such as administration, international cooperation, training, information technology, and data management. During discussions, both sides agreed to advance their cooperation in personnel exchange, video-conferencing seminars, judicial training, and exchange visits. Both parties have recently discussed the possibility of conducting a video-conference seminar on “Application of Information Technology in the Judicial Process” which is to be co-organized by the China National Judges College and the Office of the Administrative Courts. The seminar is intended for executives, judges, and other interested officials. Currently, both sides are considering detailed arrangements for the seminar.

Activities International Cooperation

On 12 February 2020, delegates of Office of the Commission for Judicial Service, affiliated with the Office of Judiciary, paid a study visit to the Administrative Court. On this occasion, the delegates were given lectures on “The Adjudication of Personnel Administration Cases”, and “Practices for Strengthening Morality and Preventing Corruption in the Office of the Administrative Courts”.

Activities

Study Visits to the Administrative Courts

On 17 February 2020, a delegation of participants in the Training Program for Legal Officers, Batch 36, from the Local Personnel Development Institute (affiliated with the Department of Local Administration, Ministry of Interior) paid a study visit to the Administrative Court. On this occasion, the participants learned about roles and responsibilities of the Administrative Court through video presentations and observed administrative judicial proceedings. Participants also learned about the history and fundamental principles of the Administrative Court.

On 3 March 2020, students from Faculty of Law, Thaksin University (Songkhla Campus), paid a study visit to Songkhla Administrative Court. On this occasion, the students learned about roles and responsibilities of the Administrative Court through video presentations and attended a lecture on “Administrative Judicial Proceedings”.

On 3 March 2020, a delegation of participants from “The Intermediate Training Program on Justice Administration, Batch 15”, from the Institute for Justice Research and Development (affiliated with Office of Justice Affairs) paid a study visit to Phetchaburi Administrative Court. On this occasion, the participants attended a lecture on “The Administrative Court and Administrative Court Procedure”.

In collaboration with Songkhla Provincial Administrative Organization, Songkhla Administrative Court organized activities to disseminate knowledge related to administrative judicial proceedings and hosted an “administrative legal clinic session” for the general public, on 13 February 2020, at Khao Kaew Temple, Thepha District, Songkhla Province.

Corporate Social Responsibility Activities

In collaboration with Nakhon Ratchasima Provincial Administrative Organization, Nakhon Ratchasima Administrative Court provided consultation services on administrative judicial proceedings for State officials and the general public, on 13 March 2020, at Ban Non Phet School, Ban Lueam District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province.

To help local people in difficulties and strengthen cordial relationships with communities, the Yala Administrative Court delivered food items and toiletries to five local mosques during the holy month of Ramadan 2020.

On 26 May 2020, Hon. Mr. Piya Patangta, President of the Supreme Administrative Court, delivered food items and toiletries to Mr. Atichoke Pholdee, Secretary-General of the Office of the Administrative Courts, for distribution to local people and communities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.