Environmental Division

Background and cases under the Jurisdiction of The environmental case division of the Supreme Court

     In that period, the Supreme Court has an excessive amount of cases which were also becoming increasingly complex. At the same time, there were litigations involving the environment that were in the forefront of the public’s attention. Overall, environmental issues play a significant role in shaping the peoples well-being.

     Environmental cases have special characteristics that differ from common civil and criminal cases. In B.E. 2547, the Chief Justice issued order number 30/2547 for the establishment of the environmental case division within the Supreme Court. This division has the authority to make rulings in environmental cases that the Supreme Court administers. The order also allows the establishment the division within the Supreme Court to function and have the authority to rule environmental cases in Supreme Court for the time being.

     In the year later, the office of the Judicial Administration Commission’s resolution authorized the establishment of the environmental case division in the Supreme Court on 1st October B.E. 2548. The division was consisted of the president, the secretary and Supreme Court judges specialized in environmental regulations. In that stage, there were eight judges, who had the authority to make ruling in both civil and criminal cases, as well as, to determine facts and regulations. At this point, it can be considered that the division of environmental case was officially established.

Authority of the environmental case division

     This division has the authority to rule both civil and criminal environmental cases which implicate natural resources, pollution and those accepted by the President of the division. At present, there are regulations related to natural resources and the environment and an extensive collection of amended regulations. Consequently, the Supreme Court order number 30/2547 regarding the establishment of the environmental cases division of the Supreme Court and classification of related litigations became outdated. Hence, the aforementioned order was amended, to be Court number 76/2561, to enhance the classifications of cases responsible by the division.