Section 224 — Appeal Against Refusal to Accept Dika
Statutory text (Thai original)
เมื่อศาลชั้นต้นไม่ยอมรับฎีกา
ผู้ฎีกาอาจฎีกาเป็นคำร้องอุทธรณ์คำสั่งของศาลนั้นต่อศาลฎีกาได้
คำร้องเช่นนี้ให้ยื่นที่ศาลชั้นต้นภายในกำหนดสิบห้าวันนับแต่วันฟังคำสั่ง
แล้วให้ศาลนั้นรีบส่งคำร้องเช่นว่านั้นไปยังศาลฎีกาพร้อมด้วยฎีกาและคำพิพากษาหรือคำสั่งของศาลชั้นต้นและศาลอุทธรณ์
เมื่อศาลฎีกาเห็นสมควรตรวจสำนวนเพื่อสั่งคำร้องเรื่องนั้น
ก็ให้สั่งศาลชั้นต้นส่งมาให้
English translation
When the Court of First Instance refuses to accept a Dika, the person filing the Dika may file a Dika in the form of a petition appealing the order of that court to the Supreme Court. Such a petition shall be filed at the Court of First Instance within fifteen days from the day the order is read. That court shall then promptly forward the petition to the Supreme Court together with the Dika and the judgment or order of the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal. When the Supreme Court sees fit to examine the case file in order to rule on the petition, it shall order the Court of First Instance to forward it.
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 gives a remedy against a Section 223 refusal. Rather than the refusal being final, the would-be appellant can escalate by a petition appealing the order, which is filed at the Court of First Instance and forwarded to the Supreme Court along with the Dika and the lower court judgments. The fifteen-day period runs from the reading of the refusal order, so proper notice of the refusal matters: if the trial court fails to notify the party of a refusal, the procedure is defective. The Supreme Court may call for the full file when needed to decide the petition. This mechanism ensures that gatekeeping under Section 223 does not become an unreviewable barrier.
Why this matters in practice
The fifteen-day deadline is short and separate from the one-month Dika deadline, so if your Dika is refused, act at once. Two points recur in the case law: the clock runs from the reading of the refusal order, and if the court never properly notified you of the refusal, the process is defective and can be challenged. File the petition at the Court of First Instance, not the Supreme Court, and make sure the record it forwards includes the Dika and both lower judgments. Missing this window usually means the case becomes final, so calendar it immediately.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 3399/2568 (2025)
A defendant may appeal the trial court's refusal to accept a fact-question Dika by petition to the Supreme Court under Section 224; where the court failed to notify the defendant of the refusal, the procedure is defective.
After the trial court refused the defendant's fact-question Dika, the Supreme Court noted the defendant could have appealed that refusal by petition under Section 224, and that the court's failure to notify the defendant of the refusal made the procedure defective.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 7207/2567 (2024)
Where the trial court accepts a Dika on one charge but refuses it on others, the defendant may appeal the refusal by petition to the Supreme Court under Section 224; failure to notify the defendant of the refusal is a defective procedure.
The trial court accepted the Dika only on one sexual offense charge and refused the rest. The Supreme Court noted the defendant could have appealed the refusal by petition under Section 224, and that the trial court's failure to notify him of the refusal made the procedure defective.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 4337/2565 (2022)
If defendants disagree with the trial court's refusal to accept their Dika, the proper remedy is a petition appealing the order to the Supreme Court within fifteen days under Section 224, not an informal petition asking the Supreme Court to accept the Dika.
The defendants asked the Supreme Court to accept their Dika by an informal petition citing a settlement with the plaintiff. The Supreme Court held the proper course was a petition appealing the refusal order within fifteen days under Section 224, and dismissed the informal petition.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Frequently asked questions
What can I do if the trial court refuses my Dika?
Under Section 224, you may file a petition appealing the refusal order to the Supreme Court, submitted at the Court of First Instance within fifteen days of the order being read.
What happens if the court did not notify me of the refusal?
If the Court of First Instance fails to notify the party of its refusal to accept the Dika, the procedure is defective, as the Supreme Court has held in cases applying Section 224.