Curtailing Free Expression, Opinion and Information Online in Southeast Asia Sections 31 to 33 of the Thai Civil Procedure Code govern the offence of contempt of court, where section 32 provides that the “author, editor or publisher” of any “newspaper or printed matter” can be deemed to be in contempt of court if the publication, “during a trial of a case up to final judgement, contains or expresses in any way whatsoever any information or opinion intended to influence the public sentiment or the Court or any party or witness in the case, likely to prejudice the fair trial of such case”, including “misrepresentation of case facts”, “biased or inaccurate reporting”, “unfair comment” or “inducement to commit perjury”.379 This offence has been extended to apply to the Thai Constitutional Court by regulations promulgated by the court to clamp down on criticism of its operations or judgments. The Constitutional Court – tasked primarily with interpreting the Thai Constitution – has often been involved in adjudicating cases of political significance, and the independence of the court has often been questioned by observers in Thailand.380 Notably, prior to Thailand’s 2019 general elections, the court dissolved Thai Raksa Chart Party, a major opposition political party, weeks before the elections, and in May 2019, it suspended the Member-of-Parliament status of Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the leader of an opposition party that had gained prominence after coming in third in the elections.381 In March 2018, the Organic Law on the Constitutional Court came into force, granting the court the power to bring legal action against any comment on its ruling which is deemed “dishonest”, “sarcastic”, “rude” or “malicious” with penalties of up to one month in prison and/or a fine of up to THB 50,000 (approx. USD 1,652).382 In October 2019, the ‘Regulation 379 English translation of Thai Civil Procedure Code B.E. 2477, Available at: https://www.imolin.org/ doc/amlid/Thailand_The%20Civil%20Procedure%20Code.pdf 380 Eugénie Mérieau, ‘The Thai Constitutional Court, a Major Threat to Thai Democracy’, IACLAIDC Blog, 3 May 2019, Available at: https://blog-iacl-aidc.org/2019-posts/2019/5/3/thethai-constitutional-court-a-major-threat-to-thai-democracynbsp; iLaw noted that among the incumbent judges of the Constitutional Court, two of the nine – including Nakharin Mektrairat and Punya Udchachon – had been recruited by the National Legislative Assembly, while five – Nurak Marpraneet, Chut Chonlavorn, Boonsong Kulbupar, Udomsak Nitimontree and Jaran Pukditanakul – whose terms were due to have expired in 2017, had their terms extended by Head of the NCPO Order No. 24/2017 issued by the NCPO. See iLaw, ‘The 2019 Elections, of the NCPO, by the NCPO, and for the NCPO’, Available at: https://ilaw.or.th/node/5004 381 Bangkok Post, ‘Constitutional Court disbands Thai Raksa Chart’, 7 March 2019, Available at: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/politics/1640796/constitutional-court-disbands-thai-raksachart; Jitsiree Thongnoi, ‘Thailand’s constitutional court blocks Future Forward leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit’s bid for prime minister role’, SCMP, 23 May 2019, Available at: https://www. scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3011554/thailands-constitutional-court-blocks-upstartpolitician; Notably, in 2007 and 2008, Thai Rak Thai and Palang Prachachon parties had similarly been dissolved. See Thitinan Pongsudhirak, ‘TRC dissolution turns up political heat’, 8 March 2019, Available at: https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/1640868/trc-dissolution-turns-uppolitical-heat 382 The law also states that the court can issue a warning, or order an offender to leave its premises. 103