Article 42: Timing of civil and criminal judgments
Statutory text (Thai original)
ในการพิจารณาคดีแพ่ง ถ้าพยานหลักฐานที่นำสืบแล้วในคดีอาญายังไม่เพียงพอ ศาลจะเรียกพยานหลักฐานมาสืบเพิ่มเติมอีกก็ได้ในกรณีเช่นนั้นศาลจะพิพากษาคดีอาญาไปทีเดียว ส่วนคดีแพ่งจะพิพากษาในภายหลังก็ได้
English translation
In trying the civil case, if the evidence already adduced in the criminal case is not yet sufficient, the court may summon further evidence to be taken. In such a case, the court may render judgment in the criminal case at once, and render judgment in the civil case afterwards.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 42 sits in Title 2 of Book 1, on civil actions connected with criminal cases. It gives the trial court two practical tools: it may take additional evidence where the record built for the criminal charge does not settle the civil issues, and it may split the timing of the two judgments, deciding guilt first and quantum of civil liability later. Read together with section 46, the design is that the civil part follows the facts found in the criminal judgment, so deciding the criminal case first is proper rather than a defect.
Why this matters in practice
For a claimant, the takeaway is that a verdict of guilt does not automatically end the money side of your case: the court may keep the civil part open to hear evidence on the value of your loss. Because the criminal finding drives the civil outcome, the strength of the prosecution's evidence matters to your compensation. If you are unsure how a joined civil claim will be timed, it is worth mapping the sequence before trial, and a short session on what to know before you go to court in Thailand can help set expectations.
Décisions de la Cour suprême interprétant cette section
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Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 5106/2538 (1995)
Sections 42 and 46 are designed so the civil part follows the facts found in the criminal judgment; deciding the criminal case first, without waiting for the civil result, is lawful.
The Supreme Court held that no law requires the civil part to be tried and decided before the criminal part. Sections 42 and 46 contemplate the civil case waiting for and then following the criminal result, so a trial court that entered the criminal judgment first, without hearing the civil result, acted properly.
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Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 1322/2511 (1968)
In a civil case connected with a criminal one, the court may separate the two, decide the criminal case at once and the civil later; withdrawal of the criminal charge does not extinguish the civil part.
Applying Section 42, the court confirmed its power to sever the criminal and civil parts and to give the criminal judgment at once while deciding the civil claim later. It followed that the plaintiff's withdrawal of the criminal charge did not cause the connected civil claim to lapse.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 5 Supreme Court decisions (1949 to 1995)
Décisions de citation sélectionnées
- Decision 5106/2538 (1995)
- Decision 1291/2535 (1992)
- Decision 4785/2534 (1991)
- Decision 1322/2511 (1968)
- Décision 51/2492 (1949)
Cette liste est sélectionnée automatiquement, en privilégiant les jugements qui reposent sur cet article plutôt que sur ceux qui se contentent de le citer lors du prononcé de la peine. Elle n'a pas encore été examinée par le cabinet.
Calculé sur l'ensemble du corpus de 83 652 décisions de la Cour suprême du cabinet, de 1921 à 2026. Le décompte est exhaustif ; la plage d'années indiquée élimine les valeurs aberrantes rares afin de refléter la répartition réelle des citations. Ces chiffres sont calculés par nos soins et ne constituent pas des statistiques officielles de la Cour. Comment nous les comptons et ce que nous avons mesuré
Foire aux questions
Un tribunal thaïlandais peut-il statuer sur une affaire pénale avant une action civile ?
Oui. En vertu de l'article 42, le tribunal peut prononcer d'abord le jugement pénal et statuer ultérieurement sur la demande civile connexe. Aucune loi n'impose que la partie civile soit tranchée en premier.
Si les poursuites pénales sont abandonnées, la procédure civile prend-elle également fin ?
Pas nécessairement. Le tribunal pouvant dissocier les deux, le retrait de l'accusation criminelle n'entraîne pas automatiquement l'extinction de la demande civile connexe.
Guides connexes sur ThaiLawOnline
Citer cette section
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Citation simple
Criminal Procedure Code, s. 42 (Thailand) -
Citation académique
Criminal Procedure Code (Thailand), s. 42. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-criminal-procedure-code/section-42/ (accessed 1 septembre 2026). -
Citation thaïlandaise
ป.วิ.อ. มาตรา 42 -
Lien permanent
https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-criminal-procedure-code/section-42/ -
Intégrer sur votre site
<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-criminal-procedure-code/section-42/"><p>In trying the civil case, if the evidence already adduced in the criminal case is not yet sufficient, the court may summon further evidence to be taken. In such a case, the court may render judgment in the criminal case at once, and render judgment…</p><footer>Criminal Procedure Code, s. 42 (Thailand): <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-criminal-procedure-code/section-42/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.