Abstract:
The purpose of this research is to explore the concept and the status of the Rule of Law under the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand B.E. 2550 (the Constitution), which the meaning, elements and status of such are ambiguous. The researcher therefore study the basic concept of the Rule of Law and the Rule of Law under the other countries legal system, which are the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Germany, together with the Rule of Law under the Constitution, in the aspect of sources and spirit of such, and the Rule of Law enforcement by the relevant authorities, for instance the Constitutional Court and the Administrative Court, in order to elucidate the ambiguities by analyzing the meaning, elements and status of the Rule of Law under the Constitution. From the study, the researcher has found that the Rule of Law under the Constitution was enacted with the purpose to protect the individual rights and liberties, to prevent the absolute and unjust use of authorities power, to prevent the conflict of interest, and to enhance the efficiency of the check and balance, by requiring the authorities to perform their duties in accordance with to the Rule of Law based on the constitutional law and any other laws, and those executions must be explicable and reasonable. In addition, the study on the execution of the Rule of Law by the Constitutional Court and the Administrative Court shows that such authorities have the important role in making the Rule of Law under the Constitution more explicit. The Constitutional Court and the Administrative Court have provided the meaning and elements of the Rule of Law under the Constitution in the consistent path with the source and spirit of such, and with other constitutional provisions. For the status of the Rule of Law under the Constitution, the Constitutional Court has ruled that such Rule of Law is a significant fundamental principle of the Constitution. The researcher, therefore, provides 4 suggestions. Firstly, the authorities should comply with the Rule of Law and follow the precedent rule related to the definition, the elements and status of the Rule of Law that the Constitutional Court and the Administrative Court provided. Secondly, the Constitutional Court and the Administrative Court should rule the concept of elements of the Rule of Law to be consistent with other constitutional provisions. Thirdly, the authorities should execute the Rule of Law concept by concerning wording specified in the Constitution in the consistent path, and, lastly, Thai citizens should have more understanding in the Rule of Law.