Section 170: Finality of Prima Facie Order and Appeals
Statutory text (Thai original)
คำสั่งของศาลที่ให้คดีมีมูลย่อมเด็ดขาด แต่คำสั่งที่ว่าคดีไม่มีมูลนั้น โจทก์มีอำนาจอุทธรณ์ฎีกาได้ตามบทบัญญัติว่าด้วยลักษณะอุทธรณ์ฎีกาถ้าโจทก์ร้องขอศาลจะขังจำเลยไว้หรือปล่อยชั่วคราวระหว่างอุทธรณ์ฎีกาก็ได้
English translation
An order of the court that the case has a prima facie basis is final; but as to an order that the case has no prima facie basis, the prosecutor has the power to appeal to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court in accordance with the provisions on appeals to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. If the prosecutor so requests, the court may detain the defendant or grant provisional release pending the appeal to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
This provision, closing the preliminary-hearing sequence in this Title, fixes the appeal consequences of the Section 167 ruling: a finding that the case has merit is conclusive and cannot be appealed by either side, whereas a no-merit dismissal may be appealed by the prosecutor under the ordinary appeal rules. Courts have clarified that the finality attaching to a merit finding bars the parties from appealing that finding, but does not prevent the appeal court from later dismissing the charge under Section 185 if, on the preliminary-hearing evidence, the conduct is no offense. The final sentence lets the court manage the defendant's custody or provisional release while a prosecutor's appeal of a dismissal is pending.
Why this matters in practice
For a defendant, a merit finding at the preliminary hearing cannot be appealed, so the path forward is to fight the case at trial rather than challenge the committal itself. If the case is instead dismissed for no merit, the prosecutor can appeal, and the defendant may be detained or released on provisional terms while that appeal runs. Note the important qualifier from case law: even after a merit finding, the appeal court may still dismiss at judgment if the alleged conduct is no offense. To weigh options at this stage, consider an online consultation with a Thai lawyer.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 1714/2567 (2024)
Under Section 170 an order that the case has a prima facie basis is final and bars the parties from appealing that order, so a request to retry may cover only the civil part of the case, not the criminal part that has become final.
The Supreme Court held that because a prima facie finding is final under Section 170, the criminal part of the case had become final and the trial court could accept an application to retry only as to the civil part. It was therefore improper for the appeal court to have dismissed the criminal charge as well.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 858/2567 (2024)
Although Section 170 makes a prima facie finding final so the parties cannot appeal it, the appeal court may still dismiss the charge under Section 185 paragraph one if, on the preliminary-hearing evidence, the defendant's conduct is no offense.
The issue was whether the appeal court could take up a receiving-stolen-property count and dismiss it. The Supreme Court held that although a prima facie finding is final under Section 170 and cannot be contested by the parties, once the case is before the appeal court and that court finds the conduct is no offense, it may dismiss the charge under Section 185 paragraph one.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 7212/2567 (2024)
Section 170 paragraph one lets the prosecutor appeal a no-merit order only in accordance with the ordinary appeal rules, so the right to appeal a dismissal is not available in every case.
As to a defendant for whom the trial court found no prima facie case, the Supreme Court noted that Section 170 paragraph one lets the prosecutor appeal a no-merit order only under the ordinary appeal rules, which, as applied in the district court under its governing statute, meant the prosecutor could not exercise that appeal right in this instance.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 36 Supreme Court decisions (1956 to 2024)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 1714/2567 (2024)
- Decision 858/2567 (2024)
- Decision 2813/2566 (2023)
- Decision 3377/2565 (2022)
- Decision 5392/2564 (2021)
- Decision 4041/2563 (2020)
- Decision 3629/2562 (2019)
- Decision 1664/2559 (2016)
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.
Most often cited alongside
- Thai Penal Code s. 83 16
- Thai Penal Code s. 91 12
- Thai Penal Code s. 264 9
- Thai Penal Code s. 268 8
- Thai Penal Code s. 90 6
- Thai Penal Code s. 265 6
Sections that appear in the same judgments as this one most often. The figure is the number of decisions.
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 a defendant appeal an order that the case has a prima facie basis?
No. Under Section 170, an order finding a prima facie case is final and cannot be appealed by the parties. The defendant's remedy is to contest the case at the full trial.
Can the prosecutor appeal a dismissal for no prima facie basis?
Yes. Section 170 gives the prosecutor the power to appeal a no-merit order to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court under the ordinary appeal rules, and the court may manage the defendant's custody while the appeal is pending.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Criminal Procedure Code, s. 170 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Criminal Procedure Code (Thailand), s. 170. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-criminal-procedure-code/section-170/ (accessed 11 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.วิ.อ. มาตรา 170 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-criminal-procedure-code/section-170/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-criminal-procedure-code/section-170/"><p>An order of the court that the case has a prima facie basis is final; but as to an order that the case has no prima facie basis, the prosecutor has the power to appeal to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court in…</p><footer>Criminal Procedure Code, s. 170 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-criminal-procedure-code/section-170/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.