Charter court sets date for ruling on senatorial qualifications
Constitutional Court says it has enough information to issue a verdict on June 5 about whether the election act violates the charter
The Constitutional Court said on Thursday that it will issue a ruling on a case questioning the qualifications of senatorial candidates on June 5.
It said the nine charter court judges would declare their personal views on the case and vote on the ruling at 9.30am on that day.
The court was referring to a petition from the Nakhon Nayok Court seeking a ruling on whether Article 14 (24) of the MPs and Senators Election Act contravened the Constitution’s Article 26.
The provincial court sought an interpretation after a defendant in a criminal case over the alleged violation of the election law argued that the law violated his rights as guaranteed by the charter.
Article 14 (24) of the election law states that senatorial candidates should not be or have been members of local councils or local administrative bodies unless they had given up the post for at least five years before registering as candidates.
The charter’s Article 26 says: “The enactment of a law resulting in the restriction of rights or liberties of a person shall be in accordance with the conditions provided by the Constitution. In the case where the Constitution does not provide the conditions thereon, such law shall not be contrary to the rule of law, shall not unreasonably impose a burden on or restrict the rights or liberties of a person and shall not affect the human dignity of a person, and the justification and necessity for the restriction of the rights and liberties shall also be specified.”
The Constitutional Court announced on Thursday that it has enough information to make a ruling on the case, and scheduled the meeting of judges on June 5.
