Section 298: Aggravated grievous bodily harm

Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section

1. Supreme Court Judgment No. 218/2560 (2017)

   Section 298 covers grievous bodily harm committed with a Section 289 aggravating circumstance such as premeditation; the aggravated grievous-harm conviction stands or falls on whether that circumstance is proven.

   The first-instance court convicted the defendant under Sections 297(8) and 298 with Section 86 as a supporter and imposed four years imprisonment, but the appellate court set aside the premeditated grievous-harm conviction and the accompanying compensation claim.

2. Supreme Court Judgment No. 7590/2560 (2017)

   Theft under Section 335 (1)(7)(8) paragraph two (former) carries one to seven years, so it is not a case with a minimum of five years' imprisonment within section 176 paragraph one of the Criminal Procedure Code. The prosecution therefore need not call evidence to support a plea of guilty, and the court may convict on the plea alone.

   The Court of Appeal Region 2 had convicted the defendant of aggravated grievous bodily harm under Section 298 with Section 83, imposing six years reduced by half to three, and had dismissed the joint theft charge. The Supreme Court held that dismissal wrong: the theft charge did not require evidence in support of the plea, so the trial court could convict on it. It also held that Amendment Act No. 26 B.E. 2560, which raised the fine under Section 335 paragraph two, was not more favourable to the defendant, so the law in force when the offence was committed applied. It added one year for the theft after reduction, making four years in all.

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