Problems and Guidelines for Developing Mediation in Administrative disputes in Thai Administrative Courts DOI:

Abstract

          Alternative dispute resolution is considered a restorative dispute resolution that is currently used in the justice process in both civil cases and criminal and administrative cases. The format used by the court is mediation with a mediator acting as mediator. Many advantages of mediating disputes includes made the case ended quickly by the parties, saved time and money, made the relationship between the parties smoothly and got benefits for both sides (win-win). The Administrative Court has been adopted alternative dispute resolution methods by virtue of the Act Establishing the Administrative Court on Administrative Procedure (No. 12) in 2019. The use of alternative dispute resolution in administrative cases has several conditions and limitations. This is because administrative cases have specific characteristics that are different from civil and criminal cases in the Court of Justice.

The research article aims to (1) study concepts and theories regarding mediation in administrative disputes; (2) study methods for mediating administrative disputes in foreign countries; (3) study the method of mediating administrative disputes in Thailand; and (4) study problems related to mediation in administrative disputes in Thailand. The research method had conducted information from academic documents and in-depth interviews. Thirty-nine people were purposively selected to provide research information, including 24 administrative court judges, one court judge, two public prosecutors, seven administrative case workers, four university professors or academicians, and one lawyer or that who had previously attended mediation in administrative cases.

This research is known that mediation of administrative disputes is a process that helps to make administrative court case management more efficient. This is because it is provided an opportunity and encouraged parties to have options in resolving administrative disputes by virtue of The Act Establishing the Administrative Court and Administrative Court Procedure (No. 12) in 2019 and the Regulations of the General Assembly of the Supreme Administrative Court on Mediation of Disputes in Administrative Cases in 2019, but the above two laws still have curtained conditions and limitations that prevent mediation from being successful in every case. From the study, it was found that there were problems and limitations including: (1) problems with the structure, powers, duties, and types of cases mediated in administrative courts; (2) problems with the mediation process and procedures in the Administrative Court; and (3) problems with enforcement of disputes and court decisions. The researcher had suggested guidelines for developing the administrative dispute mediation process by proposing amendments to related laws and help resolve administrative disputes through mediation more efficiently. This method can truly provide justice to the people. It also allows the Administrative Court to continue achieving its goals in managing administrative cases as well.