<p>A joint parliamentary session has dismissed a draft constitutional amendment, proposed by the Re-Solution group and related networks.&nbsp; The draft was backed by over 135,000 voters.</p>

<p><span><span><span>The online petition to repeal the royal defamation law, or Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code, has received over 100,000 signatures within 24 hours of its launch.</span></span></span></p>

<p>Since 2017, King Rama X has issued at least 112 royal edicts appointing and demoting royal officials and the royal consort, bestowing royal decorations, appointing monks to the Sangha Supreme Council and expressing political views, which raises questions over accountability under the King Can Do No Wrong principle.</p>

<p>A recent governmental decree banning the distribution of &ldquo;fake news&rdquo; has left local media associations and a legal watchdog concerned that the effort will limit public internet access.</p>

<p>Beside curfews and lockdowns in many locations, the 27th regulation under the Emergency Decree also imposes a 2-year jail sentence and/or a fine of up to 40,000 baht for anyone who spreads information or news that causes public fear or affects national security.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Samutprakan Provincial Court has acquitted &quot;Thanakorn&quot; of lèse-majesté and computer crime charges after the authorities prosecuted him for posting a statement relating to a sarcastic comment against supporters of Thong Daeng, the favourite dog of the late King Bhumibol.&nbsp;</p>

<p>After parliamentary scrutiny of constitutional amendments was delayed for a month, only 2 out of 7 drafts passed the first reading: the proposal by the government coalition and one of those by the opposition to amend Section 256 allowing the establishment of a Constitution Drafting Assembly.</p>

<p>iLaw, the legal watchdog NGO and its allies, has led a march to parliament to submit their amendments to the constitution, 1 day before the parliament holds a debate on 2 amendment bills one from the government and one from the opposition, on 23-24 September</p>

<p>Thailand has failed to address concerns raised by the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee (CCPR) with regard to key civil and political rights, FIDH and its member organizations Union for Civil Liberty (UCL) and Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw) said today.</p>

<p>On Friday morning (13 March), a group of civil society organizations and members of the public, led by the Committee Campaigning for a People&rsquo;s Constitution (CCPC), iLaw, and the People Go Network Forum, marched to parliament to submit a petition demanding an amendment to the 2017 Constitution.</p>

<p>&quot;Talk for Freedom,&quot; a new documentary by iLaw and Prachatai, tells the story of Mafang and Pai Dao Din, two of the participants in the Talk for Freedom public forum on the draft of the 2017 constitution in&nbsp;Khon Kaen.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Thailand&rsquo;s National Legislative Assembly (NLA) has passed 66 laws between 18 January and 8 February 2019, just before the election, according to iLaw.</p>