JURIST - Paper Chase: Thai PM to forward constitution ruling to Council of State

[JURIST] Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said on Saturday she would send Friday's ruling by the Constitutional Court [official website] to the Council of State to determine what the next steps will be in amending the country's constitution. The Constitutional Court ruled [JURIST report] yesterday that parliament could amend the constitution on a piecemeal basis, and that a national referendum would only be required to rewrite the whole charter. The case stemmed from the plans of the Puea Thai party [official party website, in Thai] to change an amendment that was passed by the country's interim military government which allows them to establish a drafting committee to make changes to the constitution. Shinawatra said after the Council of State deliberates, its recommendations will be raised at the next cabinet meeting.

Thailand's political system is still recovering from instability caused by a 2006 coup which forced former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra [JURIST news archive] into exile. The government extended its state of emergency [JURIST report] in 2010 for an extra month due to political violence and unrest. The government had previously imposed a curfew [JURIST report] on Bangkok after protesters in support of Thaksin surrendered. A Thai court also sentenced 27 protesters [JURIST report] to six months in prison for violation of an emergency decree prohibiting political gatherings of more than five people.