Conflict, Legitimacy and Government Reform: Equitable Allocation of ...

Judicial Review and Judicial Activism
Judicial Power and Judicial Governance
Dr. Udom Rathamarit
Faculty of Law, Thammasat University
Since Thailand changed its governing
system to democracy, among the
organizations empowered to exercise
state’s sovereignty, like the legislature and the
executive, only the judiciary or court has
been continuously trusted by Thai society.
Furthermore, the judiciary has its own
tradition of exercising power under Royal
endorsement of His Majesty, the revered
King. Naturally, courts will adhere to justice
and rationality within the law’s framework in
judging the cases without prejudice for all
who come to seek justice.
In the situation of the continuous
change in Thai society, like social change,
economic change and political change, the
judge or tulakar is an ordinary human being,
who sometimes feels love, greed, anger or
confusion. To make judges adhere to justice
without any deviation, there must be a
process to build public awareness of honesty
and virtue; this learning process has to be
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