Thailand Law Library

by Thailand Lawyer

Chapter 1: Child Protection Committee

There shall be a National Child Protection Committee made up of the Minister of Social Development and Human Security as Chairperson of the Committee, the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security as ViceChairperson, members comprising the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Interior, the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Justice, the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Education, the Attorney General, the Chief of the Royal Thai Police, the Director-General of the Department of Provincial Administration, the Director-General of the Department of Mental Health, the Chief Judge of the Central Juvenile and Family Court, and the Director of the Office of Welfare Promotion and Protection and Empowerment of Vulnerable Groups, and distinguished members appointed by the Minister from experts who have had no less than seven years professional experience in the fields of social welfare, teaching, psychology, law and medicine, two from each field, one of which shall be a representative from the private sector, and two additional persons appointed from those who have demonstrable experience in child welfare of no less than seven years. The Deputy Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, designated by the Minister, shall act as member and Secretary of the Committee.

No less than one third of the distinguished members under the foregoing paragraph must be women.

The National Child Protection Committee may appoint no more than two civil servants from the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security to serve as Assistant Secretary of the Committee.

The Office of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security shall be the Secretariat of the National Child Protection Committee. The Secretariat of the Committee shall have the following authority and duties:

1. To perform administrative tasks of the Committee;
2. To coordinate and cooperate with other government agencies, and public and private organisations concerned, in connection with the implementation of child welfare, safety protection and behavioural promotion related work;
3. To develop systems, modules, procedures, and provide services, in connection with child welfare, safety protection and behavioural promotion;
4. To compile research results, studies and analyses in connection with the monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of policies and plans for the provision of welfare, safety protection and behavioural promotion of children of concerned agencies, public and private alike, and report to the National Child Protection Committee;
5. To perform other work in accordance with the resolutions of, or as assigned by, the National Child Protection Committee;

The distinguished members of the National Child Protection Committee shall serve for a period of three years per term.

When a distinguished member of the National Child Protection Committee vacates the office upon expiry of his or her term, he or she may be reappointed, but not for more than two consecutive terms.

In addition to the vacation of office upon expiry of term, a distinguished member of the National Child Protection Committee will vacate the office upon:

1. Death;
2. Resignation;
3. Being removed by the Minister due to failure to perform duties, dishonesty, or misconduct;
4. Being sentenced to imprisonment under a final judgement to a term of imprisonment;
5. Being declared bankrupt;
6. Being an incompetent or quasi-incompetent person;
7. Being absent from three consecutive meetings without an appropriate reason.

When a distinguished member of the National Child Protection Committee vacates the office before expiry of his or her term, the Minister shall appoint a person in the same category as stipulated in Article 7 as the replacement committee member and the person who is appointed shall serve for a period equal to the remainder of the term of the committee member whom he or she replaced.

When a distinguished member of the National Child Protection Committee vacates the office upon expiry of his or her term and a new committee member has not yet been appointed, the outgoing committee member shall continue to perform his or her duties pro tempore.

No less than one half of the total number of committee members must be present at a meeting of the National Child Protection Committee to establish a quorum for the meeting of the Committee.

At a meeting of the National Child Protection Committee, the Chairperson of the National Child Protection Committee shall chair the meeting. If the Chairperson of the Committee is not present or unable to perform his or her duties, the Vice-Chairperson of the National Child Protection Committee shall chair the meeting. If the Vice-Chairperson of the Committee is not present or unable to perform his or her duties, other members of the Committee who are present at the meeting shall elect one among their number to chair the meeting.

Rulings and decisions of a meeting shall be carried out by simple majority. One committee member shall have one vote. If the votes are tied, the chairperson of the meeting shall cast an additional vote as the deciding vote.

The Committee shall have the following authority and duties:

1. To submit its views to the Minister regarding policies, plans, budgets and measures in social welfare, safety protection and behaviour promotion of the child in accordance with this Act;
2. To submit its views to the Minister regarding the issuance of ministerial regulations to implement this Act;
3. Issue regulations, with the consent of the Ministry of Finance, on receipt, payment and keeping of money and earnings of funds;
4. To issue regulations on measures to protect the safety of the child in accordance with Article 49;
5. To determine criteria for the appointment of competent officials;
6. To give advice, make recommendations and coordinate with government agencies and the private sector active in education, social welfare, safety protection and behaviour promotion of the child, as well as to have the authority to inspect any nurseries, remand homes, welfare centres, safety protection centres, development and rehabilitation centres, observation centres, or places related to social welfare, safety protection and behaviour promotion of the child, both public and private;
7. To monitor, evaluate and monitor the implementations of the Bangkok Metropolis Child Protection Committee and Provincial Child Protection Committees, as well as to give advice and recommendations in connection with the prevention and remedy of matters concerning social welfare, safety protection and behaviour promotion of the child, at the Bangkok Metropolis and provincial levels;
8. To carry out any other tasks related to social welfare, safe protection and promotion of behaviour of the child.

The Committee has the power to appoint sub-committees or working groups to act in pursuant to that assigned by the Committee.

The provisions under Article 13 shall apply mutatis mutandis to meetings of the sub-committees or working groups.

There shall be a Bangkok Metropolis Child Protection Committee, composed of the Governor of Bangkok Metropolis as Chairperson of the Committee, the Permanent Secretary of the Bangkok Metropolis as Vice-Chairperson, and members appointed from representatives of the Office of the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Office of the Attorney General, the Metropolitan Police Commission, Department of Social Development and Welfare, Central Juvenile and Family Court, Central Observation and Protection Centre in Bangkok, Office of Welfare Promotion and Protection and Empowerment of Vulnerable Groups, Director of the Community Development Bureau, Director of Health Bureau and Director of Medicines, including distinguished members, appointed by the Bangkok Governor from experts in the fields of social welfare, teaching, psychology, law and medicine, two from each field, one of whom must be a representative from the private sector, and an additional two distinguished members appointed from those with demonstrable experience in child welfare. The Director of the Social Welfare Bureau shall act as committee member and Secretary.

No less than one third of the total number of the distinguished members under the first paragraph must be women.

The Bangkok Metropolis Child Protection Committee may appoint no more than two civil servants from the Social Welfare Bureau as Assistant Secretary.