The Constitutional Court of Thailand (Thai: ศาลรัฐธรรมนูญ; RTGS: San Ratthathammanun; ) is an independent Thai court originally established under the 1997 Constitution with jurisdiction over the constitutionality of parliamentary acts, royal decrees, draft legislation, as well as the appointment and removal of public officials and issues regarding political parties. The Court, along with the Constitution of Thailand, was dissolved in 2006 following the Thai military's overthrow of the government. While the Constitutional Court had 15 members, 7 from the judiciary and 8 appointed by the Senate, the Constitution Tribunal had 9 members, all from the judiciary. A similar institution was established under the 2007 Constitution. The court is part of the judicial branch of the Government.
The 1998 establishment of the Constitutional Court provoked much public debate, both regarding the Court's jurisdiction and composition as well as the initial selection of justices. A long-standing issue has been the degree of control exerted by the judiciary over the Court.
The various versions of the Court have made several significant rulings. These included the 1999 ruling that Deputy Minister of Agriculture Newin Chidchop could retain his Cabinet seat after being sentenced to imprisonment for defamation, the 2001 acquittal of Thaksin Shinawatra for filing an incomplete statement, regarding his wealth, with the National Counter-Corruption Commission, the 2003 invalidation of Jaruvan Maintaka appointment as Auditor-General, and the 2007 dissolution of the Thai Rak Thai political party.
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“The Twist was a guided missile, launched from the ghetto into the very heart of suburbia. The Twist succeeded, as politics, religion, and law could never do, in writing in the heart and soul what the Supreme Court could only write on the books.”
—Eldridge Cleaver (b. 1935)