NRC panel eyes rehabilitating not jailing drug offenders

[webfact]

NRC panel eyes rehabilitating not jailing drug offenders
NITIPOL KIRAVANICH
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- THE NATIONAL REFORM Council (NRC) panel on legal and justice affairs is considering proposing the use of electronic monitoring devices as a state policy, as it may be a good method to rehabilitate wrongdoers and ease overcrowding in prisons, the panel's chairman Seree Suwanphanont said.

This could be the most concrete reform put forward by this panel, which is one of the 18 NRC committees studying different areas of reform.

"Wrongdoers and drug addicts need opportunities and one way of doing that would be to rehabilitate them so they function normally in society. The other would be to punish them with some sort of probation instead of put them behind bars," Seree, who is also a legal expert, explained.

He said existing laws cause problems or violate people's rights, such as ones that punish wrongdoers more severely than they deserve.

Amid mounting pressure from the |government, the panel has also promised that reform of the police and other legal entities should be clearer by the end of this month.

The panel has held 14 meetings since it was set up in November last year.

Seree said his committee had been |meeting regularly to ensure the framework for legal and justice reform is completed this month and that it should present its "vision for the country's future" by February 27.

Earlier, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha and NRC chief Thienchay Kiranandana had voiced concern about the length of time each committee will spend on working on issues entrusted to them.

They reasoned that a whole year was far too long for the job, and they are calling on the different committees to speed up the work.

As for the problem of overloaded prisons, the Department of Corrections has raised the issue before. There are approximately 324,000 prisoners when there is only enough space for 150,000 inmates behind bars, according to the department. Building new prisons would cost up to Bt1 billion, not to mention having to hire more prison officials and guards.

Hence, Seree said, in some cases, using an electronic monitoring or tagging device may help ease the overcrowding issue as well as punish wrongdoers by putting them under probation rather than jailing them. But he said the monitoring devices could only be applied in cases that are not severe.

Electronic monitoring devices are still being tried out in Thailand and if surveys show that this method works, then he would propose that it be made into a law. He also said there should be more electronic devices such as closed-circuit televisions (CCTV) installed across the country.

"Prevention tactics can help reduce crimes. In the legal area we usually solve the problem after it takes place.

"But a person planning to commit a crime might be deterred if they realise that they are being monitored. This way, criminal activities can be stopped before they take place," he said.

Another issue scrutinised by the panel was violations of the lese majeste law online. He said it was necessary to hunt people responsible for online posts that are considered defamatory to the monarchy and bring them to justice.

He also said the panel had discussed and scrutinised the structure of the police department and how it can be reformed. They needed to be strengthened and made more independent.

"We have studied the police's authority, because it has been questioned in the past. We have also discussed who should be responsible for investigating certain cases," Seree said. In some cases it may be necessary for a prosecutor or attorney to help in order to promote fairness.

Police should be strengthened and made more independent so other agencies cannot interfere. Also, he said, all appointments and transfers should be done transparently.

Another issue was stating clearly what local police are authorised to do and what comes under their jurisdiction.

"However, the authority of investigating cases should not come under their jurisdiction, because it is the authority of the national police department, which will be decentralised," he said.

The committee also recently discussed "dispute mediation and conciliation system", Seree said, adding that these laws should be synchronised with legal organisations in order to promote better reform.

When asked if the structure of courts should be reformed as well, Seree said courts have their own system of processing cases, adding that he was more concerned about the process of scrutinising cases.

"There have been many complaints that courts like the Administrative Court take too long to process or pursue cases, so this process needs to be speeded up," he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/NRC-panel-eyes-rehabilitating-not-jailing-drug-off-30254149.html


-- The Nation 2015-02-16

[cgphuket]

Interesting, as there is not one Thai addiction counselor in the country. I have worked in the field here for 5 years and the only options for average Thais (rich Thais who speak English can go to one of the posh, pretend rehabs for foreigners, mostly staffed by bogus staff who would not be qualified in their own country) are work camps or the watt, where they pray and puke for a month. Every offer to train Thai professionals in modern addiction treatment is ignored.

[jcisco]

Prohibition is on the horizon to be rationalized finally around the world, and move this problem into the medical fields responsibility where it very well belongs. If a drug users wants to steal or assault someone due to the drug habit, then they are going to end up incarcerated and that is what prisons are for. Not for the crime of becoming intoxicated, the choices that people make and the drug, booze whatever are not one and the same.

And while the motivation here maybe entirely a practical one rather than realization that the harsh penalties for drugs have just been beyond reasonable when it comes to the consumer end. In fact this prohibition and insane penalties has ruined more lives, generated a massive amount of criminal activity associated with the supply from petty theft to support ones habits through to take overs of countries and literally wars and armed conflict.

How on earth did we decide that this was the way to go on this, cause after a century of this solution, the problem still exits and a new set of ideas needs to be tried. Just like the hard line taken by the US against Cuba and North Korea, 50 years embargos and no contact directly and it hasn't fixed the problem.

And what I found most shocking from this article is the massive over crowding in the prisons right now, how did it get to 200% of design capacity and not of been right at the top of the lists of the human rights council and the governments. Its quite out of hand, and would be no hope of a position to actually rehabilitate inmates. Just a holding pen

Edited February 16, 2015 by jcisco

[Strangebrew]

Firtly your court system is wacked you should have two courts one for criminal matters another for civil, with the civil matters when involving two parties a mediator before court so as to try and settle before issuing a court date. In that that a lawyer can mediate problem. Now on criminal cases give higher priority on murder or offences that involve children. Maybe reform on lese de majeste law maybe rewriten to make it more clearer, I seen over the years that it is used as a means to silent people. IE:like some people falsely accuse another person of saying or doing something in regards to the royal family But the royal family has last say on any rewrite of said law. The civil law court could handle divorces cases, but for domestic assault criminal, Also step up a panel of retired judges and lawyers to watch over the courts. Maybe also a traffic court again cases involving accidents with no deaths be handled there run by lawyers. Your drug laws are behind the times too.

[Guitar God]

Most logical idea I've heard on this subject from the government ever. Kudos.

Just because they don't have enough (or any) qualified counslors right now, that doesn't mean they couldn't train or import enough to cover the need.

Edited February 16, 2015 by Guitar God

[Ozziepat]

Little understanding is shown here. There is a wide range of drug-related offenses; and "drug-related" and "criminal" are not mutually exclusive. I would agree that within a very narrow perspective use/addiction alone do not necessitate incarceration, and also possibly on that short list of exceptions is drug possession solely for personal use. Beyond that the waters turn murky, and one should keep in mind that serious crimes can be committed in the process of acquiring drugs for personal use. So, leniency for some users might be in order, but sellers are another matter entirely. Rehabilitation, then, has a rather narrow range of potential customers.

[greenchair]

We were given community service when I was young, for small offences. Such as having a joint or driving with no helmet. I remember spending my weekends at the old people's home. I did cleaning and chatted to the old people that were lonely.

Periodic detention (pd) was a bit harsher. Used for second and third offenders. Or a little more serious crimes. Such as a pub fight or selling canabis or petty theft. I did that too.

We had to do hard labour every Saturday. There were many that preferred jail to pd. We built a miniature town for the kids, with roads and signs. So they could learn the road rules. I learned a lot. I did not repeat my crimes and I became a value to the community instead of a burden. Prison is not the place for drug users. Seizure of assets is a much more effective way of stopping dealers. And having them work to provide assistance to users would also be effective.

[Don Aleman]

First time petty thieves, vandals, drug USERS, gamblers,,minor traffic offenders should be sentenced to

public works jobs, ( with minimal pay), to include, when called for, rehab and a promise of a real prison sentence for not completing assigned program. Plenty of street/pavement/road work plus cleaning/painting and a dozen other needed projects to be completed.