Article 76: Young adult 18 to 20: discretionary reduction
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดอายุตั้งแต่สิบแปดปีแต่ยังไม่เกินยี่สิบปี กระทำการอันกฎหมายบัญญัติเป็นความผิด ถ้าศาลเห็นสมควรจะลดมาตราส่วนโทษที่กำหนดไว้สำหรับความผิดนั้นลงหนึ่งในสามหรือกึ่งหนึ่งก็ได้
English translation
Whoever, from eighteen years but not over twenty years of age, commits an act that the law provides to be an offence, if the court thinks fit, the court may reduce the scale of the punishment prescribed for that offence by one third or by one half.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
This is the final rung of the age-based scheme in Book 1, Title on Criminal Liability. An offender in the 18-to-20 band is treated as a full adult subject to the ordinary punishment, but the court is given a discretion, exercisable only if it thinks fit, to soften the scale of punishment by one third or one half. The contrast with section 75 is important: for the 15-to-18 band the one-half reduction is mandatory once the court decides to punish, whereas here any reduction depends wholly on the court's view of the person and the circumstances, and the court may reduce by the smaller one-third fraction or decline to reduce at all. This scale reduction is distinct from, and can be combined with, discretionary mitigation under section 78.
Why this matters in practice
For a defendant between eighteen and twenty, there is no guaranteed sentence discount: the reduction is a matter of persuasion, so mitigation evidence about age, background, education and efforts to repair the harm carries real weight. Because the court can choose one third or one half, the difference between the two fractions can be substantial in a serious case, and a defendant should press for the larger reduction while also seeking further mitigation under section 78. Establishing the exact age at the time of the act remains essential.
Décisions de la Cour suprême interprétant cette section
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Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 345/2568 (2025)
Section 76 lets the court reduce the scale of the punishment fixed for an offence by up to one half for an offender over eighteen but not over twenty at the time of the act. A reduction made by the court of first instance does not survive where the whole prosecution is afterwards dismissed.
The court of first instance convicted six defendants of a gang rape and, for the first, fifth and sixth, who were eighteen and nineteen at the time of the act, reduced the scale of punishment by one half under section 76, bringing fifteen years down to seven years and six months before further mitigation. The Court of Appeal Region 3 reversed and dismissed the whole prosecution, because the investigation had been carried out by police who had no authority over the case so the prosecutor had no power to sue, and the Supreme Court affirmed. The section 76 reduction therefore belongs to a judgment that no longer stands, and no punishment was imposed on any defendant.
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Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 4136/2567 (2024)
Section 76 also permits a one-third reduction; a defendant aged nineteen at the time may have the scale of punishment reduced by one third rather than one half.
The defendant, aged nineteen at the time, was convicted of murder and firearms offences. The court reduced the scale of punishment by one third under section 76, showing that the court may choose the smaller fraction rather than one half.
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Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 811/2568 (2025)
The reduction under section 76 is discretionary; the court may find it appropriate to reduce the scale of punishment in light of the young offender's age, record and conduct.
The court found it appropriate to reduce the scale of punishment under section 76, noting the defendant's youth, lack of any prior conviction and the impulsive nature of the conduct, and further suspended the term of imprisonment.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 411 Supreme Court decisions (1960 to 2025)
Décisions de citation sélectionnées
- Decision 345/2568 (2025)
- Decision 2159/2566 (2023)
- Decision 1494/2566 (2023)
- Decision 3069/2565 (2022)
- Décision 1317/2565 (2022)
- Decision 167/2565 (2022)
- Decision 2425/2564 (2021)
- Decision 399/2564 (2021)
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.
Le plus souvent cité aux côtés de
- Article 78 284
- Article 83 250
- Article 91 214
- Article 90 128
- Article 288 106
- Article 33 95
Sections qui apparaissent le plus souvent dans les mêmes jugements que celui-ci. Le chiffre correspond au nombre de décisions.
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
La réduction de peine est-elle automatique pour un jeune de 18 à 20 ans ?
Non. En vertu de l'article 76, la réduction est discrétionnaire ; le tribunal peut réduire l'échelle de la peine d'un tiers ou de la moitié seulement s'il le juge approprié, et il peut refuser de la réduire du tout.
En quoi l'article 76 diffère-t-il de l'article 75 ?
En vertu de l'article 75, la réduction de moitié est obligatoire une fois que le tribunal décide de punir un jeune de 15 à 18 ans, tandis qu'en vertu de l'article 76, toute réduction pour un jeune de 18 à 20 ans est discrétionnaire et peut être d'un tiers ou d'une moitié.
Guides connexes sur ThaiLawOnline
Citer cette section
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Citation simple
Penal Code, s. 76 (Thailand) -
Citation académique
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 76. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-penal-code/section-76/ (accessed 30 août 2026). -
Citation thaïlandaise
ป.อ. มาตรา 76 -
Lien permanent
https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-penal-code/section-76/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-penal-code/section-76/"><p>Whoever, from eighteen years but not over twenty years of age, commits an act that the law provides to be an offence, if the court thinks fit, the court may reduce the scale of the punishment prescribed for that offence by one third or by…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 76 (Thailand): <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-penal-code/section-76/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.