In Germany, the Federal Constitutional Court is a respected institution and enjoys an equal status with the three branches of a democracy, said Rupert Scholz, who served as defence minister in the Helmut Kohl government.

Scholz cited a German poll result that said the court was “the most recognised institution”.

“No chancellor can earn as much faith as the court,” said Scholz, a recognised expert on constitutional and European economic and labour laws as well as economic administration. He was speaking at a dinner talk on “Tasks and Missions in accordance with the German Constitution: Judgement, Administration and Budgeting”, co-organised by the Office of the Constitutional Court and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung in Bangkok recently.

He said the court also serves as a balance between law and politics when reviewing cases.

In Germany, the judges do not consider the suitability of a law but only review whether the law is constitutional, he explained. “The role of the court is as the ‘guardian’ of the constitution and as the authority that reviews the constitutionality of the laws,” the professor said.

The court respects the spirit of the legislators and, therefore, does not immediately invalidate unconstitutional laws. However, on several occasions it has annulled some articles of a law instead of the entire law. “The court gives a year to two years’ time to legislators to amend the parts considered unlawful,” he added.

Thailand has adopted the concept of the court from Germany where its main roles are judicial review and to rule on the constitutionality of legislation. However, there are some areas of divergence in the responsibilities of the two courts. One of the German court’s key tasks is to rule on complaints related to the constitution, which is an extraordinary remedy for the protection of constitutional rights.

In Germany, any citizen or person of any nationality living in the country can approach the court if they believe their constitutional rights have been violated by a public power. The complaints, however, can be filed only after a ruling from the Federal Court of Justice, the country’s supreme court.

In other words, the role of the constitutional court is very clear: to consider petitions from the public against a state authority, including the actions of the judicial branch. In Thailand, however, that clarity is missing in defining the court’s role, Banjerd Singkaneti, a law scholar at the National Institute of Development Administration, pointed out.

Banjerd said Thai laws were not explicit about rights and liberty violations over which the public can petition the Constitutional Court.

Moreover, the German Constitutional Court is the highest court, which can review a case as the final court of authority, but in Thailand, the courts of justice, the Administrative Court and the Constitutional Court have a parity in status.

Banjerd noted that only 2 per cent of more than 200,000 complaints filed with the German court are actually successful [a win for the public]. Though the number was small, it could have the effect of making the lower courts of justice exercise their powers with discretion due to the realisation that they can be scrutinised by the Constitutional Court, he said.

However, giving such power to the high [Constitutional] court could be a double-edged sword if the court were not independent, he added.

Banjerd believes there should be some room for the Thai Constitutional Court to review the final ruling by the courts of justice, especially in cases where the verdict fundamentally overlooks facts, the law, and the rule of law.

The Thai Constitutional Court has previously been criticised for making controversial rulings that altered the shape of governments and has been accused of having double standards.

In several cases, the Thai judges’ ruling appeared to stress the principles of political science rather than the legal aspects. The decision to dissolve the Thai Rak Thai of Thaksin Shinawatra and its successor People Power Party, while sparing the Democrat Party over a similar ordeal stand out as examples.

Early this year, the legislators passed an organic law that protects the Constitutional Court from criticism. The law stipulates that those who use rude, sarcastic or threatening words will be punishable by up to one month in jail and a fine of Bt50,000. Scholz said in his view the court can be criticised but without using force.

“The court has to accept criticism. It should not bar freedom of expression, especially relating to academic matters,” he said.

When asked about the constitutionality of a political party’s proposal to amend the charter after winning an election and whether the Constitutional Court should intervene to stop such an action, the professor said the court cannot stop the amendment.

Some anti-junta political parties such as Pheu Thai and Future Forward Party have vowed to scrap the current Constitution, which they called undemocratic, and write a new charter if they win the election.

“Any party that wins a majority has the right to amend a charter if it so chooses, as long as they don’t use force [to achieve that],” the German professor said.

A party’s intention to write a new charter does not contradict the principle of liberal democracy, he said.

To amend a charter, the parties need to adhere to and not be against the intention of the charter under a democratic regime, he added.

The professor shared a similar case in his country dating back to the period after the reunification of Germany in 1990.

Scholz was a member of the joint parliament committee, which considered the question of whether the country should have a new charter. The concerned parties, however, agreed that the existing charter was still usable and decided to just add more provisions to bring it up to date.

Despite concerns of genocide and discrimination, leaders of Asean at their summit this week here will explore the possibilities of early but safe repatriation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar’s strife-torn Rakhine state.

A statement from the Asean chairman at the end of the summit will stress the importance of “voluntary return” of the refugees from Bangladesh as well as “the need to find a comprehensive and durable solution to address the root causes of the conflict and to create a conducive environment so that the affected communities can rebuild their lives”, according to an official aware of the draft preparation.

More than 700,000 Muslim Rohingya have fled violence in Rakhine since August last year after militant groups attacked security outposts, prompting a brutal “clearance operation” by the Tatmadaw (Myanmar military).

Investigations conducted by the United Nations and other organisations, including NGOs and news media, found elements of ethnic cleansing and atrocities against the Rohingya. The UN human rights body called for the case of “genocide” to be referred to the International Criminal Court or any international tribunal.

A Thai official said the Rakhine issue could be raised for discussion among Asean leaders and their partners from all over the world during the summit this week. Asean, however, would limit its involvement to the humanitarian crisis and would support the government in Nay Pyi Taw in handling the issue as it sees fit.

Asean refrains from using the term Rohingya in its official documents.

The Rakhine crisis was “one of the clouds hanging over Asean over the past one year”, said Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.

“At every Asean meeting we’ve had, Myanmar has taken pains to explain the situation to us, update us on their plans and to reassure us that they were doing their best to resolve the situation,” he told Singapore media last week.

Balakrishnan visited refugee camps in Bangladesh last week and met Myanmar’s leaders to discuss the issue. Bangladesh and Myanmar officials have announced publicly and said in private conversations that there is real commitment on their part to begin the process of repatriation, he said.

“In our discussions, we emphasised that the key thing when you begin the repatriation is to ensure that it is voluntary, that it is safe, and that it is dignified,” he said. A Bangladesh-Myanmar joint working group reached an agreement during their meeting on October 30 in Dhaka to start the process of repatriation in the middle of this month.

While observers in Thailand said they understood Bangladesh’s keenness to reduce its burden of sheltering a huge number of refugees from Myanmar, they raised concerns that early repatriation might cause trouble for the Rohingya due to discrimination in Rakhine state.

Thai scholars who closely monitor the situation in Rakhine state told The Nation that they agreed Asean should take on some role, not only in the repatriation but also in helping Myanmar address the problem at its roots.

The legal process on the question of genocide should continue to bring responsible Myanmar officials to justice, said Thammasat University expert on Myanmar affairs Dulyapak Preecharushh.

There should also be efforts to convince Myanmar to end discrimination against the ethnic group by amending its citizenship law to recognise the Rohingya in some way, he said.

The most important aspect of the repatriation is safety, he said, “how Myanmar authorities guarantee that their homes in the northern areas such as Maungdaw and Buthidaung will be safe enough for them and to live with other ethnic groups peacefully”.

Walailak University lecturer on international relations Anusorn Chaiaksornwet suggested that Thailand, which will hold the Asean chairmanship next year, should come up with a clear plan on the Rohingya issue.

Asean needed a document to show strong determination to collectively solve the problem, he said, adding that there should also be a committee or some kind of mechanism to monitor the situation and handle the job.

Hatsune Miku, or simply Miku to her international fans, is the character model designed by artist KEI for the Vocaloid voice synthesizer program by Crypton.

Her singing voice was sampled from the voice of voice actress Saki Fujita. The software was released in Japan on Aug. 31, 2007. The fourth version of the software called “Hatsune Miku V4” was released on Aug. 31, 2016.

Miku herself has no intricately defined personality, but is rather defined by the songs fans and songwriters make for her.

As for the happy bridegroom, Akihiko Kondo found solace and inspiration in the countless songs made for the virtual diva. This led him to fall hard for the virtual singer and announced his intent to marry Miku through twitter posts made on Aug. 18.

Fast forward to the present, Kondo made his dream come true on Nov 4 with a full wedding ceremony complete with guests and a blushing bride in the form of a Miku doll wearing a white wedding dress.

The ceremony was a small and intimate affair with just 39 guests.

They included relatives, friends and Japanese Parliament member Taro Yamada and Assemblyman Ogino Otaku, who each shared snapshots of the event through tweets on the same day.

What led to the unusual union? Apparently Kondo had trouble interacting with women due to a traumatizing experience at work.

Ten years ago, Kondo was on the receiving end of workplace bullying by female superiors. The experience scarred him to the point that he lost trust in women in general. He was also suspended from work as a result, reports Unilad.

During these unhappy moments of his life, he found the sweet voice of the virtual singer comforting, which led to him develop a romantic connection to the character. Over the years, Kondo accumulated a large collection of Miku merchandise including a hologram gadget called Gatebox, which projects an interactive Miku hologram.

Whatever reactions or criticisms Kondo will get for his decision, for the time being it appeared the man couldn’t be happier at this point in his life.

Many netizens are impressed by his talent but some are saying that the boy has to develop this skill in order to survive. We attempted to translate what he says.

http://content.jwplatform.com/players/mL2mqIjS-dBiC3tzP.html

Firefighters battled raging fires at both ends of the state — in Butte County, a scenic area in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains north of Sacramento, and in the Los Angeles area, where two deaths possibly related to a fire were reported.

There is little hope of containing the flames anytime soon, as the National Weather Service said strong winds and dry conditions were expected through the weekend.

“Today, 14 additional bodies were located, which brings our total number to 23,” Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said at a late Saturday news conference as he discussed a blaze known as the “Camp Fire.”

Acrid smoke from the fire covered the sky for miles, the sun barely visible. On the ground, cars caught in the flames were reduced to metal carcasses, while power lines were gnawed by the flames.

Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for more than 52,000 people in the area.

In the town of Paradise more than 6,700 buildings — including a hospital, a gas station, and several restaurants — have been consumed by the fire.

Rescuers removed human remains over several hours in Paradise and placed them in a black hearse. Charred body parts were transported by bucket, while intact remains were carried in body bags.

At the Holly Hills Mobile Estate the mobile homes had been reduced to smoldering piles of debris. Yellow police tape marked spots that were tagged “Doe C” and “Doe D,” suggesting that bodies were found there.

Locals fled the danger, but police told AFP some farmers returned to check on their cattle.

Fanned by strong winds, the blaze has so far scorched 100,000 acres (40,500 hectares) and is 20 percent contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said. So far, three of the more than 3,200 firefighters deployed have been injured.

They estimate they will need three weeks to fully contain the blaze.

Local power authorities told state officials that an outage occurred near the spot where the fire erupted, The Sacramento Bee reported, but there is no official cause of the Camp Fire blaze.

– “No more Fed payments!” –

President Donald Trump, traveling in France for World War I commemorations, drew criticism for his unsympathetic reaction to the devastation.

“There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor,” Trump tweeted.

“Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!”

Brian Rice, the head of the California Professional Firefighters, slammed Trump’s tweet as “ill-informed, ill-timed and demeaning to those who are suffering as well as the men and women on the front lines.”

He said the president’s claim that forest policies were mismanaged “is dangerously wrong.”

Trump later showed more sympathy. “Our hearts are with those fighting the fires,” as well as the evacuees and families of the victims, he tweeted. “God Bless them all.”

– Malibu mansions in flames –

In southern California, more wildfires burned, including one just north of Los Angeles and another in Ventura County near Thousand Oaks, where a Marine Corps veteran shot dead 12 people in a country music bar on Wednesday.

Two bodies were found in Malibu — one of the most coveted locations in California for Hollywood stars seeking privacy and luxury — in an area where the “Woolsey Fire” swept through, the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department. However the incident “is being investigated by the homicide department,” an LACS spokesperson told AFP.

The Woolsey Fire has consumed around 83,000 acres, destroyed at least 177 structures and was five percent contained, Cal Fire said late Saturday. Evacuation orders had been issued for some 88,000 homes in Ventura County and neighboring Los Angeles County.

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian West, who lives just north of coastal Malibu, was one of the celebrities forced to flee.

Director Guillermo del Toro tweeted that Bleak House, his museum of horror movie memorabilia, was safe after he saying he feared it would go up in smoke.

Actor Martin Sheen, briefly reported missing by his actor son Charlie, was also forced to evacuate.

“We’re fine, we’re at Zuma Beach and we’re probably going to sleep in the car tonight,” Martin Sheen told Fox News 11, adding that it was the worst fire he had seen in 48 years of living in Malibu.

The wildfire reached Paramount Ranch, destroying the Western Town sets used for hundreds of productions including HBO’S sci-fi western “Westworld,” network officials sai

The surfer, aged in his 20s, was on his board at Pyramids Beach south of Perth in Western Australia on Sunday morning when the attack happened, a fisheries official told AFP.

A witness told news website WA Today the man was with another surfer in the water when a large school of salmon swam past them and the shark alarm went off.

“He had been attacked on the lower part of the leg, with a couple of meaty bites,” said Damian Baker, who was watching from the shore.

The young man pulled himself onto a rock after he was bitten, surf lifesavers said. He was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

State officials confirmed the attack by an “unknown species of shark” in a statement.

Beaches in the area were closed and water police were patrolling the waters, the state fisheries department said.

The attack is the fifth encounter off Australia’s beaches in two months.

A swimmer died last Monday after being mauled by a shark in the Whitsunday islands off Queensland state — the third encounter in the tourist site since September.

On Wednesday, a surfer fought off a shark with his board after being bitten on the leg at Shelly Beach –another popular tourist site — in New South Wales state.

Experts say attacks are increasing as water sports become more popular and fish eaten by sharks move closer to shore. Fatalities, however, remain rare.