The Desirable Process for Prosecuting Monks in Thai Society

Abstract

The dissertation consisted of 3 objectives: 1) to study the current condition of problems and obstacles of the prosecution of monks in accordance with the process of the Court of Justice; 2) to study the means for settling disciplinary cases (Adhikarana) of monks in Theravada Buddhist scriptures; and 3) to present the desirable process for prosecuting monks in the present Thai society. This was a qualitative research by using the purposive random sampling. The key informants consisted of the Sangha administrators, rule-keeper monks, prosecutors, polices, inquiry officials, lawyers, defendants, legal scholars and Buddhist scholars, in a total of 15 persons. The research instruments used were documentary research, in-depth interview and seminar group by employing the triangulations method. The data were analyzed by means of interpretation, inductive conclusion, and content analysis, derived from the study of documents by considering the context and presented in the descriptive method. From the study, it was found as follows:1) The prosecution of a monk should be according to the Vinaya rules and if he commits major offences and has to disrobe, he should also be treated and prosecuted the same way as ordinary people. Therefore, the law should be revised on these issues based on the Vinaya rules according to the Tipitaka in order to allow monk to demonstrate their innocence. 2) The disrobement of monk by the results of the law under the Sangha Act B.E. 2560, Section 29 and 30 have granted the inquiry officials or the prosecutors the authority to force the monk to leave monkhood, even though he has not committed any major offences. This represents the authority that has been given to the inquiry officials or the prosecutors more than what the Vinaya rules specify.3) The process of prosecution of monks should include a lay judge who is a monk or those with knowledge of Buddhism in the trial because the context of the monk is different from the general public. If a monk is made to disrobe during the trial even if the verdict is not yet final, but when the final court dismisses the case, it causes difficulties for a monk to get healed and return to the old position, causing injustice and damage to Buddhism.