Problems on Limitation of the Rights and Liberties under the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, B.E. 2560

Abstract

This article’s objective were to study the theory 1) on the limitation of the rights and
liberties and 2) to study the principle of the limitation of the rights and liberties stipulated in the
Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand since the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, B.E.
2540 until the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, B.E. 2560 which is applicable at the
present time. From the comparative study of the three versions of the Constitution of the Kingdom
of Thailand and the theory on the limitation of the right and freedom, it was concluded that the
Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, B.E. 2540 and the Constitution of the Kingdom of
Thailand, B.E. 2550 both have stipulated of the limitation of the rights and liberties in Section 29
with the identical content that is: The restriction of such rights and liberties as recognized by the
Constitution shall not be imposed on a person except by virtue of the law specifically enacted for
the purpose determined by this Constitution and only to the extent of necessity and provided that it
shall not affect the essential substances of such rights and liberties. The law shall be of general
application and shall not be intended to apply to any particular case. However, the Constitution of
the Kingdom of Thailand, B.E. 2560, currently applicable, has stipulated of the limitation of the
rights and liberties in Section 26 which is different from the past two versions: “… only to the
extent of necessity and provided that it shall not affect the essential substances of such rights and
liberties” to “provided that no more is done than is reasonably necessary under the circumstance
and it shall not affect the essential substances of such rights and liberties”. These have affected to
the interpretation of the law and enactment of the Legislative and Executive of limiting the rights