Section 20: Court's power to conciliate at any stage
Statutory text (Thai original)
ไม่ว่าการพิจารณาคดีจะได้ดำเนินไปแล้วเพียงใด ให้ศาลมีอำนาจที่จะไกล่เกลี่ยให้คู่ความได้ตกลงกัน หรือประนีประนอมยอมความกันในข้อที่พิพาทนั้น
English translation
No matter to what extent the trial of the case has already proceeded, the court has the power to conciliate the parties so that they reach an agreement, or a compromise, on the matter in dispute.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 20 states the court's core conciliation power within Chapter 3 and makes clear it is available at every stage of the case, from the outset through to the point of judgment. It complements Section 19, which allows the court to summon the parties in person for that purpose, and it is elaborated by Section 20 bis on confidential conciliation and appointment of conciliators, and Section 20 ter on pre-litigation conciliation. Conciliation under this section depends on the parties' voluntary agreement; the court facilitates but cannot impose a settlement. A resulting compromise can be given effect by a judgment in accordance with the compromise under Section 138.
Why this matters in practice
Expect the judge to raise settlement, and to be able to do so even late in the case; it is a normal part of Thai civil litigation, not a sign of weakness. A settlement recorded by the court can be turned into a judgment by compromise, which is enforceable, so the terms matter. Weigh a proposed compromise carefully against the cost and risk of continuing, ideally with a lawyer; the firm advises on mediation and settlement as well as litigation.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 5012/2538 (1995)
Conciliation by the judge to bring the parties to an agreement is a lawful duty of the judge under Section 20, and it takes effect according to the voluntary consent of the parties, provided the agreement does not contravene the law.
In an estate matter, the parties agreed through the judge's conciliation to be joint estate administrators. The court held that a judge's conciliation to bring the parties to agreement is a lawful duty under Section 20, operating according to the parties' voluntary consent, and there was nothing to show the agreement was contrary to law.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 2802/2525 (1982)
Statements recorded in the court's process report are not conciliation statements under Section 20 where they are in substance admissions of fact on the issues in dispute; the court may then treat the facts as settled, dispense with evidence, and give judgment.
The parties' statements recorded by the trial court were held not to be statements made for the purpose of conciliation or compromise under Section 20, but admissions of certain facts that were the issues in dispute. Because the facts were thereby settled, the court had power to dispense with taking further evidence and to give judgment.
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 (1981 to 2022)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 176/2565 (2022)
- Decision 5012/2538 (1995)
- Decision 2802/2525 (1982)
- Decision 2138/2561 (2018)
- Decision 248/2524 (1981)
This list is selected automatically, weighted towards judgments that turn on this section rather than ones that merely recite it when passing sentence. It has not yet been reviewed by the firm.
Counted across the firm's corpus of 83,652 Supreme Court decisions, 1921 to 2026. The count is complete; the stated year range trims rare outliers so it describes where the citations actually sit. These figures are computed by us and are not official court statistics. How we count these, and what we measured
Frequently asked questions
Can the court try to settle my case even after the trial has started?
Yes. Section 20 lets the court conciliate the parties toward an agreement or compromise no matter how far the case has progressed.
Can the court force me to settle?
No. Conciliation under Section 20 rests on the parties' voluntary agreement. The court facilitates a settlement but cannot impose one on you.
Is a settlement reached in court binding?
It can be. A compromise reached under Section 20 may be embodied in a judgment by compromise under Section 138, which is enforceable, so review the terms carefully before agreeing.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Civil Procedure Code, s. 20 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Civil Procedure Code (Thailand), s. 20. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-civil-procedure-code/section-20/ (accessed 11 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.วิ.พ. มาตรา 20 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-civil-procedure-code/section-20/ -
Embed on your site
<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-civil-procedure-code/section-20/"><p>No matter to what extent the trial of the case has already proceeded, the court has the power to conciliate the parties so that they reach an agreement, or a compromise, on the matter in dispute.</p><footer>Civil Procedure Code, s. 20 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-civil-procedure-code/section-20/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.