Jomsap Saenmuangkhot’s retrial is set for January 16 at Nakhon Phanom Provincial Court.

She said: “I hope heaven will have mercy allowing the innocent to receive aid and remedial measures. I still believe that the court is just but my case in the past [which resulted to her being sentenced by a primary court to three years and two months for the crime] stemmed from mistakes by police officers and attorneys.

“I understand that the court didn’t visit the area to investigate the truth themselves but considered from the evidence reported to court. I hope that wrongdoers would get punished as per the course of justice.”

Legal aid

Jomsap, who said she would consider filing a civil lawsuit in the future, said she had worked as a schoolteacher for 31 years but couldn’t continue in the job after her imprisonment in 2013, which was pardoned on April, 2015.

Her petition for reinstatement was pending a court’s ruling that would exonerate her and order her to get her career back, she said.

Jomsap, who was currently unemployed, said the case affected her family and loved ones. During the court battle to prove her innocence, her eldest son died and her second son had to drop out of school because the family could not afford the tuition and expenses, she said.

Jomsap’s friend Rojana Jantharat had told Amarin TV that she and other friends had been trying to help Jomsap clear her name.

She said she checked with the Land Transport Office and found that the car involved in the incident with registration number Bor Khor-56 wasn’t only available in Sakhon Nakhon but also other provinces.

They narrowed it down to a green car registration plate and found an exact match of Bor Khor-56 Mukdahan. They traced to the car owner’s home and the owner eventually admitted he was once involved in a crash. He admitted he was involved in the Nakhon Phanom crash in 2005 but didn’t know that Jomsap had served a jail term.

Deputy Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Justice Pol Col Dusadee Arayawuth and centre to help debtors and victims of injustice secretary Nithit Phurikhup said the centre had helped submit the new evidence to court and asked for the case to be reopened as Jomsap had insisted she was with her family in Sakhon Nakhon at the time of crash.

After officials deemed that Jomsap was innocent, they found the real culprit who reportedly admitted the offence to court. He showed where he hid the car and the garage that repaired damage after the crash. As the suspect was a well-to-do man, the court was convinced he wasn’t hired to take the blame.

As Jomsap was a criminal case defendant entitled to compensation, Nithit said the authority had to wait until the court exonerated her before he put forward her application for remedial measures.

He also urged people in need of legal aid to ask for help before the case is finalised as it was not easy to re-open such a case. Those who were innocent should defend themselves because trials were based on evidence presented by investigators.

THE KINGDOM’S top legal experts will soon get together to push forward amendments to the draft charter to fit what the government and lawmakers describe as the “circumstances of the modern world”.

“The clauses to be amended were not paid attention to before the referendum, because drafters had only copied them from the previous constitution. Now, however, the situation in the country has changed, so they will have to be amended to meet the situation. Otherwise, we will be using principles that were written in 1932,” Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said yesterday.

His Majesty the King had earlier advised the government to amend a section in the draft charter pertaining to the King’s prerogative in appointing a regent in the event of his absence or inability to perform his Royal duties.

Chief charter drafter Meechai Ruchupan said this amendment would give the King the option of either appointing or not appointing a regent should he not reside in the Kingdom.

The charter draft currently allows the president of the Privy Council to be Regent pro tempore if the King does not name a regent. “These clauses would be altered to change that provision,” Meechai said. Somchai Sawangkarn, a National Legislative Assembly (NLA) member and secretary of the NLA whip, said yesterday that it might not be necessary to name a regent because modern communication methods have made it easy and convenient to work remotely. The charter should be amended to meet this environment, he told The Nation.

Also, every time a regent is in charge, he or she has to take an oath in Parliament, Somchai said, adding that this may be an unnecessary burden especially when the King is away on short trips.

NLA to take up readings

The 2014 Interim Constitution will be amended by the NLA in three consecutive readings tomorrow, paving the way for the revision of the charter draft. Wissanu said that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha should get the draft charter from the King within 30 days, before he sets up a special committee to amend the draft in line with His Majesty’s advice.

The committee will comprise 10 top legislators including Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) chairman Meechai, NLA President Pornpetch Vichitcholchai and chairman of the now-defunct Constitution Drafting Committee Borwornsak Uwanno.

The amendments will have to be completed and submitted to the King for endorsement within 30 days after His Majesty returns the draft. The draft will then have |to receive Royal endorsement within 90 days or it will have to be dropped.

The deputy premier also promised that the issue of rights and freedom in the constitution would be left untouched.

Wissanu, meanwhile, said the timetable for writing organic laws would remain unchanged. Once the draft is submitted for Royal endorsement, the CDC should have the organic laws ready within 240 days, he said, adding the NLA would then deliberate on it for 60 days and spend 30 days on revisions if there are any. The organic laws will then be handed in and receive Royal endorsement within 90 days, and elections could be held within 150 days of the promulgation of the laws, Wissanu said.

All steps are necessary and must be completed in the right order, the deputy PM added.

He explained that this was part of the road map, which is clear and has a fixed timeframe, adding that it cannot be shortened or extended and that it depended on the amount of time spent on each step.

“It can only be expedited when everybody acknowledges this and lends a helping hand,” he said.

Wissanu added that the government could have promised an election months ago, but the situation has changed and it was no longer possible to set an exact date. He also quoted the premier as saying that the royal cremation and coronation were the priority.

Nothing should interfere with these two ceremonies, Wissanu said, though he refused to say whether an election could be expected this year. However, he said a date would be set and political parties would be allowed to resume their activities, including campaigning.

Meanwhile, Meechai said yesterday that the interim and draft charters would have to be returned by the King by February 6, as that will mark the 90th day since the submission of the documents for Royal endorsement.

As a member of the special committee, Meechai said he was not worried, as the only amendments to be made would be those suggested by His Majesty.

His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn has advised the government to amend the section of the new constitution draft dealing with the exercise of royal power, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday.

Prayut said there were about “three to four issues” in the new charter draft while a spokesman of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) admitted that the proposed amendment concerned the King’s prerogative in appointing a regent in the event of his absence from the country or if he is incapable of performing his duties. The amendment would mean that the King would not be constitutionally bound to appoint a regent.

The Interim Charter will also have to be amended to the same effect.

The amendment is likely to delay the next general election tentatively set for late this year, but Prayut insisted a new government should still be able to take over early next year.

The Office of His Majesty’s Principal Private Secretary had contacted the junta government saying that some of the charter draft’s content regarding the monarch’s power needed to be discussed, Prayut said.

Prayut added that following the new King’s consideration, the draft would be returned for amendments to be carried out on several points.

Before amending the charter draft, the junta needs to amend the Interim Constitution of 2014to pave the way for the amendment of the supposedly finished charter draft, which was submitted for royal endorsement last October.

This Friday, the NLA will deliberate in three consecutive readings on the amended Interim Charter empowering the King discretion on the designation of a regent and to allow amendments to the constitution approved in the August referendum in line with the King’s advice.

Jate Siratharanon, spokesman of the NLA’s whip, confirmed the draft amendment circulated by online media outlet Isra News was the same as the copy the NLA had received from the Cabinet and the National Council for Peace and Order.

According to Isra, the draft amendment featured two main issues. One was Article 3, which involved a new stipulation: “Should the King not reside in the Kingdom or should the King not be able to perform his duty for any reasons, the King shall or shall not designate a regent by his preference and such a command shall be countersigned by president of the Parliament.” The passage was to be added to the existing Article 2 of the charter.

The second issue affected Article 4 of the Interim Charter, providing a mechanism for the charter draft to be returned to the prime minister for amendments in line with the King’s advice.

The changes should be completed within a month, while the entire legislative process could take another two to three months, Prayut said.

Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam said Articles 5, 17 and 182 of the new charter draft will be amended, as will other Articles referring to the above three. Under the Interim Charter, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will be given authority to lead this task once the draft charter has been returned, Wissanu said, adding that the PM will set up a special committee to complete the task.

While it is not yet clear how the special committee and the National Legislative Assembly will coordinate when it comes to amending the draft charter, Wissanu said the changes should be done within 30 days after the draft charter is returned. The draft will then be forwarded to the King for endorsement, which should take no more than 90 days, he added.

‘Timeline same after changes done’

Although the situation might imply postponement of the charter being promulgated, Prayut insisted that the junta’s “roadmap to democracy”, including its timeline for a general election, would still be strictly followed “once the permanent charter is in place”, Prayut said.

He for the first time yesterday said there would have to be consideration about the appropriateness of political proceedings given that the Royal Cremation and Coronation are scheduled to be held this year. “Things will proceed once [those ceremonies] are over. I’m not prolonging anything. Who would expect what happened?” the prime minister said, referring to the late King’s passing.”

Proposed changes to Interim Charter

Article 3: Add the following to the third paragraph of the 2014 Interim Constitution’s Article 2: “Should the King not reside in the Kingdom or should the King not be able to perform his duties for any reasons, the King shall or shall not designate a regent of his choosing and such command shall be countersigned by president of the Parliament.”

Article 4: Nullify the 11th paragraph of Article 39/1 of the 2014 Interim Constitution, which was amended for the second time in 2016, and replace it with the following:

“Should the prime minister submit a constitution draft to seek royal endorsement and the King notices that it needs an amendment within 90 days, the prime minister should reacquire the draft and amend it accordingly as well as amend the preamble correspondingly.”

“The amendment should be made and re-submitted to the King within 30 days after the acquirement. Should the King grant royal endorsement, its promulgation should be announced in the Royal Gazette, with the prime minister countersigning it.”

“In case the King does not approve the draft constitution or the amendment and returns it [to the prime minister] or when it exceeds 90 days after the submission for royal endorsement and the King does not return it, the draft constitution or the amendment should be dropped.”