Translation:Announcements, Acts, and Decrees From the Reign of Rama V/Volume 13/Part 33

by Chulalongkorn

Martial Law
126 Rattanakosin Era

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There has been issued by Phra Bat Somdet Phra Paramin Maha Chulalongkorn Phra Chunlachomklao Chaoyuhua a great royal command declaring to all that it be announced for general knowledge as follows:

Whereas He is scheduled to promulgate new Acts in place of various laws and ordinances in force in the Kingdom at this present time for the purpose of administering the military justice, and, in those new Acts, there are also special parts dealing with army courts during the operation of martial law, it is therefore appropriate for Him to enact martial law before these new Acts come into force. Thus, with His gracious pleasure, He orders the following Act to be enacted:

Section⁠1.⁠This Act shall be called the "Martial Law, 126 RE".

Section⁠2.⁠Whenever the necessity to maintain order and safety arises, whether from outside or inside the Kingdom, there will be announced a royal command putting the martial law into operation in any parts of the Kingdom.^[1]

Section⁠3.⁠In such an announcement, there must be shown which circles, communes, or arrondissements the martial law shall be put into operation for.^[2]

Section⁠4.⁠When there occurs a war or riot in any place, the military commander of that place who is in charge of not less than a battalion, or the commander of a military base, has the power to announce putting the martial law into operation in the jurisdiction of his military force, but with dispatch must a report be made to the Government for its knowledge.^[3]

Section⁠5.⁠When the martial law is to be lifted in any place, this must be governed by a royal command to be announced.

Section⁠6.⁠In the arrondissements where the martial law is in operation, the military authorities have the same powers as the civilian authorities in regard to the policing or for the maintenance of order. The civilian authorities must assist in the military service as required by the military.^[4]

Section⁠7.⁠The powers of the military courts in the communes where the martial law is in operation must be governed by the military penal laws and ordinances in every respect.

However, the civilian courts continue to have the powers to try and adjudicate upon the penal cases which have been pending before them since before the operation of the martial law and the military courts continue to have the powers to try and adjudicate upon the penal cases which are pending before them at the time of the lifting of the martial law.^[5]

Section⁠8.⁠When the martial law is in operation in any commune, the military authorities have the power to do those which are to be stated hereafter:

1)⁠they have the power to enter and search any places at any time;

2)⁠they have the power to eject anyone without fixed domicile in that commune;

3)⁠they have the power to direct people in that commune to send weapons and ammunition in their possession to military officers, and have the power to search for and capture weapons, and ammunition, and forbidden articles of warfare.^[6]

Announced on the 10th day of December 126 Rattanakosin Era,^[7] being the 14,273rd day of this present reign.

Notes

1. Compare this with article 1 of the French Second Republic's Law of 9 August 1849 on State of Siege (Légifrance, 2004): "A state of siege can only be declared in the event of an imminent peril against internal or external security."
2. Compare this with article 2, paragraph 2, of the French Second Republic's Law of 9 August 1849 on State of Siege (Légifrance, 2004): "The declaration of a state of siege designates the communes, arrondissements, or departments to which it applies and may be extended."
3. Compare this with article 5 of the French Second Republic's Law of 9 August 1849 on State of Siege (Légifrance, 2004): "In places of war and military posts, either on the frontier on in the interior, a declaration of a state of siege may be made by the military commander, in the cases provided by the law of 10 July 1791 and by the decree of 24 December 1811. The commander immediately reports it to the Government."
4. Compare this with article 7, paragraph 1, of the French Second Republic's Law of 9 August 1849 on State of Siege (Légifrance, 2004): "As soon as a state of siege is declared, the powers with which the civil authority is invested for the maintenance of order and the policing pass in their entirety to the military authority."
5. Compare this with article 13 of the French Second Republic's Law of 9 August 1849 on State of Siege (Légifrance, 2004): "After the lifting of the state of siege, the military tribunals continue to address crimes and offences whose prosecution has been submitted to them."
6. Compare this with article 9 of the French Second Republic's Law of 9 August 1849 on State of Siege (Légifrance, 2004): "The military authority has the right:
   1. to make searches in homes of citizens day and night;
   2. to remove repeat offenders and individuals who are not domiciled in the places subject to the state of siege;
   3. to order the surrender of arms and ammunition, and to conduct a search for them and capture them;
   4. …"
7. Corresponding to 2450 Buddhist Era or 1907 Common Era.

References

• Légifrance (2004). "Loi du 9 août 1849 sur l'état de siège" [Law of 9 August 1849 on State of Siege] (in French).