Article 170: Finality of Prima Facie Order and Appeals

Décisions de la Cour suprême interprétant cette section

1. Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 1714/2567 (2024)

   The finality that Section 170 gives to an order that the case has a prima facie basis, which bars the parties from appealing it, extends only to that order. A party who has been prejudiced may still object that the proceedings were irregular, and the court of first instance may revoke the irregular proceedings under section 27 of the Civil Procedure Code, applied through section 4 of the Act on the Establishment of Kwaeng Courts and Criminal Procedure in Kwaeng Courts B.E. 2499. Such an objection does not make the criminal part of the case final.

   In a private prosecution for fraud the court accepted the charge after a preliminary hearing, and the first defendant applied to revoke the proceedings from the service of the summons and the copy of the complaint. The plaintiff objected that the prima facie order was final and no rehearing could be sought. The Supreme Court rejected that: the finality in Section 170 reaches only the prima facie order itself, the first defendant was not barred from complaining of irregular proceedings, and the criminal part of the case had not become final.

2. Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 858/2567 (2024)

   Although Section 170 makes a prima facie finding final so the parties cannot appeal it, the appeal court may still dismiss the charge under Section 185 paragraph one if, on the preliminary-hearing evidence, the defendant's conduct is no offense.

   The issue was whether the appeal court could take up a receiving-stolen-property count and dismiss it. The Supreme Court held that although a prima facie finding is final under Section 170 and cannot be contested by the parties, once the case is before the appeal court and that court finds the conduct is no offense, it may dismiss the charge under Section 185 paragraph one.

3. Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 7212/2567 (2024)

   Section 170 paragraph one lets the prosecutor appeal a no-merit order only in accordance with the ordinary appeal rules, so the right to appeal a dismissal is not available in every case.

   As to a defendant for whom the trial court found no prima facie case, the Supreme Court noted that Section 170 paragraph one lets the prosecutor appeal a no-merit order only under the ordinary appeal rules, which, as applied in the district court under its governing statute, meant the prosecutor could not exercise that appeal right in this instance.

Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.