Section 180: Time to apply for amendment

Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section

1. Supreme Court Judgment No. 6542/2567 (2024)

   The Consumer Case Procedure Act B.E. 2551 and the regulations of the President of the Supreme Court make no specific provision about amending an answer, so section 180 applies by analogy through section 7 of that Act. But only part of it can apply. Consumer proceedings have their own provision, section 32 of that Act, for notifying the disputed issues and fixing which party leads evidence, and so differ from ordinary civil cases, which have a settlement of issues hearing. The Code's settlement of issues provisions are therefore not applied in consumer cases at all, and the branch of section 180 that runs to the settlement of issues day has no application. What governs is the requirement that the motion be filed not less than seven days before the day of taking evidence, subject to the exceptions for reasonable cause, questions of public order, and the correction of minor errors.

   The question was whether a defendant in a consumer case could amend the answer, and by what deadline. The Supreme Court held that because neither the Consumer Case Procedure Act B.E. 2551 nor the regulations of the President of the Supreme Court deal specifically with amending an answer, section 180 applies by analogy under section 7 of the Act. It went on to hold that the settlement of issues branch of section 180 cannot apply in a consumer case, because consumer proceedings have their own mechanism in section 32 of the Act for notifying disputed issues and fixing the order of evidence, and so do not involve a settlement of issues hearing at all. The operative deadline in a consumer case is therefore the requirement to move not less than seven days before the day evidence is taken, with the usual exceptions.

2. Supreme Court Judgment No. 3687/2565 (2022)

   Although Section 180 requires an amendment of the answer to be filed by motion before the settlement-of-issues day, the same provision excepts cases of reasonable cause preventing earlier filing, matters of public order, and correction of minor errors or slips, in which the amendment may still be made.

   The Court upheld leave to amend the defendants' answer, confirming that the exceptions in Section 180 permit an amendment even after the ordinary deadline where one of the listed grounds applies.

3. Supreme Court Judgment No. 4269/2565 (2022)

   A motion to amend the complaint by increasing the sum in dispute, where the original and later complaints are connected enough to be tried together, is proper under Section 179 and Section 180.

   After further building damage was discovered, the Court held the plaintiff's motion to amend and increase the sum in dispute complied with both Section 179 and the timing rule of Section 180.

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