การคุ้มครองสิทธิของผู้ต้องหาในคดีอาญา มิให้ต้องรับสารภาพโดยไม่สมัครใจ / ปิยวรรณ ดีนาน = Protection of the crirminal accused's right in the case of involuntary confession / Piyawan Deenarn
"Confession" is an evidence having legal adverse impact on the confessor and may result in commencement of a criminal charge, and also is a non eye witness evidence that the judge may rely on to convict the confessor if there is other sufficient surrounding evidence. The confession is usually violated in the police interrogation process whereas the Constitution of Thailand and the Criminal Procedural Code provide that by no means and in no event shall any confession be involuntary. Such legislation from the legal perspective has the principle of protection of the accused' s right acceptable worldwide. In other countries, the governments put much effort in protecting the accused's right. Despite unclearness of their constitutional laws, the supreme court attempts to interpret the term : involuntary confession in such a broad way that any evidence making up the such confession including evidence submitted and derived from such confession shall be rejected. Moreover, such effort of correction of any circumstance involving interrogation process causes the government officer to have to completely read the accused his legal rights, prior to any interrogation, failing such, the officer is deemed to violate the accused's right. Additionally, those governments have paved a way to have a plea bargain system as another examining tool to ascertain voluntary confession. In Thailand, the studies reveal that the Criminal Procedural Code in accordance with the Constitution already protects the accused's rights Nevertheless, a loophole is unavoidable in that Thai laws separate police interrogation stage from prosecution process. Furthermore, at the early stage of prosecution by state prosecutor, cross examination by the court is not possible, and that points out that there is no check and balance among justiciary authorities involving protection of the accused right in confession. Such absence of check and balance leads to involuntary confession. As a composer of this thesis, I am of opinion that to prevent the criminal accessed from the involuntary confession problem, the existing law alone already having broad provisions on this issue may not do so. Rather, all the relevant government authorities including their sub-units and the underlying officers must improve their ways, policies and operations in obtaining evidence and in balance and check system of power among those authorities. In addition the state should have more legislation and regulations to protect the criminal accused's right.
