Article 24 — Jurisdiction over connected offenses
Texte légal (original thaï)
เมื่อความผิดหลายเรื่องเกี่ยวพันกันโดยเหตุหนึ่งเหตุใดเป็นต้นว่า
(๑) ปรากฏว่าความผิดหลายฐานได้กระทำลงโดยผู้กระทำผิดคนเดียวกัน หรือผู้กระทำผิดหลายคนเกี่ยวพันกันในการกระทำความผิดฐานหนึ่งหรือหลายฐาน จะเป็นตัวการ ผู้สมรู้หรือรับของโจรก็ตาม
(๒) ปรากฏว่าความผิดหลายฐานได้กระทำลงโดยมีเจตนาอย่างเดียวกัน หรือโดยผู้กระทำผิดทั้งหลายได้คบคิดกันมาแต่ก่อนแล้ว
(๓) ปรากฏว่าความผิดฐานหนึ่งเกิดขึ้น โดยมีเจตนาช่วยผู้กระทำผิดอื่นให้พ้นจากรับโทษในความผิดอย่างอื่นซึ่งเขาได้กระทำไว้ดังนี้จะฟ้องคดีทุกเรื่อง หรือฟ้องผู้กระทำความผิดทั้งหมดต่อศาลซึ่งมีอำนาจชำระในฐานความผิดซึ่งมีอัตราโทษสูงกว่าไว้ก็ได้ถ้าความผิดอันเกี่ยวพันกันมีอัตราโทษอย่างสูงเสมอกัน ศาลซึ่งมีอำนาจชำระ ก็คือศาลซึ่งรับฟ้องเรื่องหนึ่งเรื่องใดในความผิดเกี่ยวพันกันนั้นไว้ก่อน
traduction anglaise
Where several offenses are connected by any cause, for instance: (1) where it appears that several offenses were committed by the same offender, or that several offenders are connected in committing one or several offenses, whether as principals, abettors, or receivers of stolen property; (2) where it appears that several offenses were committed with the same intent, or that the offenders had conspired together beforehand; (3) where it appears that one offense was committed with the intent to help another offender escape punishment for another offense which he had committed; in such cases, all the cases, or all the offenders, may be prosecuted at the court having jurisdiction to try the offense that carries the higher rate of punishment. If the connected offenses carry equally high rates of punishment, the court having jurisdiction is the court that first accepted for trial any one of the connected offenses.
Cette traduction anglaise est fournie à titre indicatif uniquement et n'a pas encore été vérifiée de manière définitive ; référez-vous toujours à l'original thaï.
Annotation de l'entreprise
Section 24 lets connected offenses be tried together and directs them to a single court. It defines connection through three illustrative categories: a common offender or connected offenders under (1), a shared intent or prior conspiracy under (2), and an offense committed to help another escape punishment under (3). Where offenses are connected, they may be prosecuted together at the court with jurisdiction over the one carrying the higher penalty, and if penalties are equal, at the court that first took a connected offense. The section is about jurisdictional concentration, not consolidation itself, which Section 25 handles, and its classification is decisive: matters that merely share a common origin, without being connected offenses, fall outside it.
Pourquoi cela est important en pratique
For a prosecutor or private complainant, Section 24 is a practical way to bring a linked set of charges before one court instead of scattering them, which saves time and avoids inconsistent findings. For a defendant, the limits matter: the provision applies only to genuinely connected offenses, so it cannot be stretched to justify piling unrelated matters together, and it is distinct from the rules on duplicate or repeated prosecutions. Whether your charges truly qualify as connected under (1) to (3) is a fact-specific question a licensed Thai lawyer should assess before filing or objecting.
Décisions de la Cour suprême interprétant cette section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 4487/2560 (2017)
Where two offenses are committed by the same offender and are connected, they are connected offenses under Section 24, so the prosecutor may prosecute both together at the court with jurisdiction over the more serious offense.
The Court held that a drug-consumption offense and a drug-possession offense committed by the same offender were connected offenses under Section 24, so the prosecutor could bring them together at the provincial court, read with the Narcotics Case Procedure Act, without the separate municipal-court procedure.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 4101/2560 (2017)
Where a charge is connected with other charges filed at the court where those other offenses occurred, that court, having accepted the connected charges after a preliminary hearing, has jurisdiction over the connected charge under Section 24 paragraph one (1) and paragraph three.
The plaintiff filed one charge together with two others at the court where the latter occurred. After the preliminary hearing and acceptance of those charges, the Court held the trial court had jurisdiction over the connected charge under Section 24 paragraph one (1) and paragraph three, read with the municipal court act.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 3131/2562 (2019)
Section 24 applies only to several offenses connected with one another; matters that merely share the same underlying cause are not connected offenses, so the Section 24 rules on connected-offense jurisdiction do not apply.
The Court rejected the argument that the earlier and present cases could be brought together under Section 24, holding that they merely arose from the same underlying cause and were not several connected offenses. The Section 24 framework for connected-offense jurisdiction therefore did not apply.
Décisions sélectionnées avec numéros de dossier vérifiés dans la base de données de la Cour suprême. Les versions anglaises sont des traductions éditoriales réalisées par le cabinet à des fins d'étude.
Foire aux questions
What are connected offenses under Thai criminal procedure?
Under Section 24, offenses are connected when, for example, they are committed by the same offender or connected offenders, with the same intent or by prior conspiracy, or where one offense is committed to help another offender escape punishment.
Which court tries connected offenses that carry different penalties?
Under Section 24, all connected offenses may be prosecuted at the court with jurisdiction over the offense carrying the higher rate of punishment.
Does Section 24 apply to unrelated cases that share a common background?
No. Section 24 applies only to genuinely connected offenses. Matters that merely arise from the same background but are not connected offenses fall outside it.