<p>Three years after the last coup d’état, human rights lawyers have argued that the junta could not hold power without the support of the country’s judicial institutions.</p>
<p>Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) on 27 May 2017 released <a href="http://www.tlhr2014.com/th/?p=4307">a report</a> about the relationship between the military government and judicial institutions.</p>
<p>The Thai junta leader has invoked his authority under the Interim Constitution to put on hold the process of selecting new members of a law reform agency, saying that the upcoming constitution is already meant to reform the country.</p>
<p>On Wednesday, 15 July 2015, the junta’s National Council of Peace and Order (NCPO) issued Order No. 20/2015 to stop the process of selecting new committee chairs of the <a href="http://www.prachatai.org/english/taxonomy/term/2521/all">Law Reform Commission of Thailand (LRCT)</a>, an independent state agency which promotes legal reforms.</p>
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<div>After the 2007 Constitution was torn up two months ago, Thailand was presented with an Interim Charter with 48 articles on 22 July 2014. The significance of the charter is that it allows the establishment of three bodies: a National Legislative Assembly (NLA), taking the responsibilities of Parliament, a National Reform Committee (NRC), which will propose a “reform” plan aiming at re-engineering the Thai political landscape, and a Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC), which is responsible for drafting a permanent constitution.
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