Alternative Dispute Resolution in Thailand
Asian Law Series
No.19
PREFACE
The evolution of the market-oriented economy and the increase in cross-border transactions have brought an urgent need for research and comparisons of judicial systems and the role of law in the development of Asian countries. Last year, in FY 2000, the Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization (IDE-JETRO) conducted legal researches in Asian countries with two main themes. The first theme was to figure out the role of law in social and economic development and the second was to survey the judicial systems and the ongoing reform process thereof. We organized joint research projects with research institutions in Asia and had a roundtable meeting entitled “Law, Development and Socio-Economic Change in Asia” in Manila. The outcomes of the joint researches and the meeting were published in March 2001 as IDE Asian Law Series No. 1-10.
This year, in FY 2001, based on the last year’s achievement, we established two research committees: the Committee on “Law and Political Development in Asia” and the Committee on “Dispute Resolution Process in Asia”. The former committee focused on legal and institutional reforms following democratic movements in several Asian countries. Since late 1980s many Asian countries have experienced drastic political changes by the democratic movements with mass action, which have resulted in the reforms of political and administrative system for ensuring the transparency and accountability of the political and administrative process, human rights protection, and the participation of the people to those process. Such reforms are essential to create the stability of the democratic polity while law and legal institutions need to function effectively as designed for democracy. The latter committee conducted a comparative study on availability of the court system and out-of-court systems (namely Alternative Dispute Resolutions), with the purpose of determining underlying problems in the courts. As social and economic conditions drastically change, Asian countries face challenges to establish systems for fairly and effectively resolving the variety of disputes that arise increasingly in our societies. For dispute resolution, litigation in the court is not the only option. Mediation and arbitration proceedings outside the courts are important facilities as well. In order to capture the entire picture of dispute resolution systems, a comprehensive analysis of both the in- and out-of-court dispute resolution processes is essential.
In order to facilitate the committees’ activities, IDE organized joint research projects with research institutions in seven Asian countries. This publication, titled IDE Asian Law Series, is the outcome of research conducted by the respective counterparts. This series is composed of papers corresponding to the research themes of the abovementioned committees, i.e. studies on law and political development in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, and studies on the dispute resolution process in China, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The former papers include constitutional issues that relate to the recent democratization process in Asia. Studies conducted by member researchers investigated the role of law under those conditions while taking up such subjects as rule of law, impeachment, Ombudsman activities, human rights commissions, and so on. The latter papers include an overview of dispute resolution mechanisms for comparative study, such as court systems and various ADRs, as well as case studies on the dispute resolution process in consumer, labor and environmental disputes.
We believe that this work is unprecedented in its scope, and we hope that this publication will make a contribution as research material and for the further understanding of the legal issues we share.
March 2002
(1.53MB)Chapter Two: Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Out of Court Dispute Resolution Mechanisms
1. Introduction
2. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR): How out-of-court systems are used as Dispute Resolution mechanisms
3. Overview of Alternative Dispute Resolution: Type and Function
4. Current Situation Regarding the Use of ADR
4.1 Public Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms
4.2 Private Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms
5. Conclusion
6. Appendix
6.1 Arbitration Act B.E.2530 (1987)
6.2 Arbitration Rules of Arbitration Institute, Ministry of Justice
6.3 Conciliation Rules of Arbitration Institute, Ministry of Justice
6.4 The Court of Justice Regulations Pertaining to Mediation of Financial Dispute of B.E. 2544 (2001)
6.5 The Court of Justice Regulations Pertaining to Mediation of B.E. 2544(2001)
6.6 Inter-Creditor Agreement on Restructure Plan Votes and Executive Decision Panel Procedures
6.7 Debtor-Creditor Agreement on Debt Restructuring Process
6.8 Creditor Under this Agreement
6.9 Creditor Accession
6.10 Process Schedule
6.11 Information Required From Debtor
6.12 Framework for Corporate Debt Restructuring in Thailand
6.13 Mediation Agreement
Chapter Three: Field Research on Alternative Dispute Resolution in Thailand
1. Abstract
2. Rationale and Objectives of the Study
3. Theoretical Background
3.1 Conciliation of the Court
3.2 Conciliation of the Conciliator
4. Data and Methods
4.1 Subjects and Sample Group
4.2 Scope of the Study
4.3 Tools of the Study
4.4 Questionnaire and Interview Form Examination
4.5 Methods of Data Collection
4.6 Data Analysis
4.7 Presentation of Result of the Study
5. Result of Information Analysis
5.1 Presentation of Analysing Result of Personal Data of Lawyers
5.2 Presentation of Analysing Result of Personal Data of Judges
6. Conclusion and Result of Research Analysis
6.1 Knowledge and Understanding of the Lawyers about the Conciliation for Dispute Resolution
6.2 Attitude of the Judges and Lawyers Toward the Conciliation for Dispute Resolution
6.3 The Expectation of the Judges and Lawyers Toward the Conciliation for Dispute Resolution
6.4 Suggestions From the Study
7. References
8. Appendix 8.1 The Number of the Lawyers Who Acquainted with the Conciliation
8.2 The Proportion of the Lawyers Who Enter the Conciliation Separated by the Courts
8.3. The Proportion of the Lawyers Who Enter the conciliation Separated by the Relevance of the Case
8.4 The Number of the Judges and Lawyers Who Give Opinions About the Acceptance of Conciliation
8.5 The Number of the Judges and Lawyers Who Give Opinions About the Possibility of Conciliation in Problem Solving
8.6 The Number of the Judges and Lawyers Who Give Opinions on Whether the Conciliation Can Solve Problem Fairly
8.7 The Proportion of Level of Conciliation Acceptance Separated by the Amount in Dispute ....
8.8 The Number of the Lawyers Who Give Opinions on Persons Who is the Best in Charge of Conciliator
8.9 Questionnaire for the Study
8.10 Interview Form for the Study
Chapter Four: Dispute Resolution Process in Consumers Protection
1. Historical Background
2. Outline of Consumer Disputes
2.1 Background of Disputes
2.2 Type of Disputes
2.3 Number of Cases
3. Organizations or Institutes for Dispute Resolution
3.1 The Office of Consumer Protection Board
3.2 Court
4. Comparative Study of the Proceedings of the Office of Consumer Protection Board and the Court
5. Case Study
6. References
Chapter Five: Dispute Resolution Process in Labour Matters
1. The Background
2. Outline of Labour Disputes Cases
3. Organizations of Institutes for Dispute Resolution
3.1 Worker Committee
3.2 Labour Union
3.3 Labour Dispute Conciliation official
3.4 Industrial Relations Commission
3.5 Labour Inspection official
3.6 The Central Labour Court
4. Case Study
4.1 Labour contract
4.2 Workers’ compensation
4.3 Labour union and collective bargaining agreement
Chapter Six: Dispute Resolution Process in Environmental Problems
1. Introduction
2. Background of the Disputes: Overview of Environmental Situation in Thailand
3. Types of Environmental Disputes and their Alternative Resolutions
3.1 Negotiation
3.2 Mediation and Conciliation
3.3 Arbitration
3.4 Court System
4. Conclusion
