Section 258 — Civil Procedure Rules on Litigation Costs
Statutory text (Thai original)
ให้นำบทบัญญัติแห่งประมวลกฎหมายวิธีพิจารณาความแพ่งว่าด้วยค่าฤชาธรรมเนียมมาใช้บังคับโดยอนุโลม
English translation
The provisions of the Civil Procedure Code on litigation costs shall apply mutatis mutandis.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified — always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 258 closes the Chapter on fees with a gap-filling reference: the Civil Procedure Code provisions on litigation costs (ค่าฤชาธรรมเนียม) apply mutatis mutandis. Crucially, this imports the CPC's distinction between a fee (ค่าธรรมเนียม), which section 252 bars in criminal cases, and litigation costs including attorney's fees, which the court may still address. It thus works together with sections 253, 254, and 255 to complete the fee regime for the civil components of criminal proceedings.
Why this matters in practice
The practical upshot is the fee-versus-cost distinction: even though a criminal case charges no fee, the court can still deal with litigation costs such as attorney's fees under the Civil Procedure Code through this section. When arguing about who pays attorney's fees in the civil part of a criminal case, this is the provision that supplies the applicable rules.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 7571/2560 (2017)
Under section 258 the Civil Procedure Code provisions on litigation costs apply mutatis mutandis; attorney's fees are litigation costs (ค่าฤชาธรรมเนียม), not a fee (ค่าธรรมเนียม), so the court may rule on them.
Applying section 258 with CPC sections 149 and 167, the Court held that attorney's fees are litigation costs the court must rule on in the judgment, distinct from the fees barred in criminal cases under section 252.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Frequently asked questions
Are attorney's fees available in a criminal case?
Yes, in the fee-bearing civil parts. Section 258 applies the Civil Procedure Code rules on litigation costs mutatis mutandis, and attorney's fees are litigation costs, not a barred fee.
What is the difference between a fee and litigation costs here?
A fee (ค่าธรรมเนียม) is barred in criminal cases by section 252, while litigation costs (ค่าฤชาธรรมเนียม), which include attorney's fees, are governed by the Civil Procedure Code through section 258.