A network of civil society organizations has urged the Constitutional Court to release its full ruling on prohibiting direct election of a Constituent Assembly in the new constitutional drafting process, arguing that the Court exerted its power excessively and undermined democracy.

The People’s Constitutional Drafting Group, a network of civil society organizations campaigning for a new constitution, gathered at the Constitutional Court on Friday (26 September) to submit a petition, calling on the Court to disclose its full ruling about the election of a Constituent Assembly.

The demand stemmed from the Court’s ruling on 10 September regarding the required referendums needed for a new constitutional drafting process. Apart from that issue, the Court also unexpectedly ruled that “parliament will not allow the people to directly elect a Constituent Assembly.”

Previously, the controversy centred solely on the number of required referendums. To resolve the dispute, parliament agreed to bring the case to the court for a ruling.

However, this unsolicited statement also appeared in the ruling, sparking confusion. In addition, it has never been clarified by the Court, and several parties have been concerned over the Court’s excessive use of its power to limit public participation in the constitutional amendment process.

Questions have also been raised whether the Court has the authority to dictate how a new constitution is to be written when this should be the responsibility of the legislative branch.

The network argued that the Court’s ruling exceeded its jurisdiction under the 2017 Constitution and the 2018 Organic Act on Procedures of the Constitutional Court.

“The ruling in question caused severe damage to the democratic principle of sovereign power belonging to the Thai people, and it created an unprecedented new restriction on constitutional amendments by parliament,” said Patsaravalee Tanakitvibulpon, a network representative.

Patsaravalee added that the ruling also violated basic legal procedures, where the Court must refrain from deliberating beyond the scope of the issue on which it was asked to deliberate.

The network demanded that the Court publish its full ruling as soon as possible. In the case that the full ruling confirms that the general public is not allowed to elect the Constituent Assembly, the group will lodge a petition against the Court with the National Anti-Corruption Commission, requesting an investigation into the five Constitutional Court judges for their unsolicited ruling.

Nantawat Saksakulkunakorn, another representative from the network, stated that if the Court maintains its stance against a directly elected Constituent Assembly, it would contradict the 2017 Constitution, as well as the Court’s own 2021 ruling, which affirmed the principle that the power to establish the Constitution rests with the people.