While Article 67 in the bill’s provisional clause says the new law will not affect cases that are already in the judicial process, Wallop said it is still not clear what was covered by the term “process”.

Wallop said, in his view, the law should not apply retroactively to cases concerning former premier Thaksin Shinawatra which have already been already ruled on by a court.

He said in his interpretation, the new law would not cover cases already adjudicated, including Thaksin’s, but would cover existing cases on which a final ruling has not been issued.

“The president or the spokesperson of the NLA committee vetting the said draft bill should clarify this point,” Wallop said “The Constitutional Court could also be approached for clarity on the term ‘process’.