Services / Administrative cases
Civil service discipline: thirty days to appeal
Civil service discipline runs on a different track from ordinary administrative cases: a dedicated appeal body sits in the way first, and once past it the case does not start in the Administrative Court of First Instance but goes straight to the Supreme Administrative Court.
The first thirty days
Section 114 of the Civil Service Act B.E. 2551 (2008) provides that a person penalised under the Act, or ordered out of the service under the specified limbs of section 110, may appeal to the Merit System Protection Commission within thirty days of learning, or being deemed to have learnt, of the order, the appeal and its determination being governed by the Commission's rules.
The next ninety days, and which court
Section 116 provides that once the Commission has determined the appeal, the appointing superior must give effect to the determination within thirty days, and that an appellant who disagrees may bring proceedings in the Supreme Administrative Court within ninety days of learning, or being deemed to have learnt, of it. That differs from ordinary administrative cases, which begin in the court of first instance.
A superior who does not comply
The closing paragraph of section 116 states firmly that a superior who fails to comply is regarded as wilfully neglecting official duty unlawfully so as to cause injury to another. Those words attach a liability heavier than ordinary discipline. Someone who has succeeded before the Commission but finds the determination unimplemented is therefore not without recourse.
What to look for in the file
Defending a discipline case is not only about denying the conduct; it is about process. The recurring questions are whether the accused received the allegations in full, had a proper opportunity to answer and to put forward witnesses, whether the investigating panel was lawfully constituted, and whether the penalty is proportionate to the conduct. Obtaining a copy of the investigation file is therefore always the first task.
Other services, other statutes
The above applies to ordinary civil servants. Other services sit under their own statutes, which name different appeal bodies and set different periods — Bangkok Metropolitan officials, parliamentary officials, police officers, and academic staff in state institutions among them. The first thing to establish is therefore which Act governs, before counting days against a figure remembered from elsewhere.
PREPARE
What to bring
- The penalty order, with the date you were notified
- A copy of the investigation file so far as it can be obtained
- The statement of allegations and any answer already filed
- The witnesses you asked to call and whether they were heard
- The statute that governs your particular service
QUESTIONS
Questions this raises
Can I skip the Commission and go straight to court?
Sections 114 and 116 set the order: appeal to the Commission first, then proceedings in the Supreme Administrative Court if you disagree with its determination. Skipping a step raises a question about the conditions for bringing the case that the court will take up, which is why the first thirty days should not be allowed to pass on the assumption that the fight can simply be had in court.
The Commission ruled in my favour but my department has not acted.
The first paragraph of section 116 requires the appointing superior to give effect to the determination within thirty days of it being made, and the closing paragraph treats a failure to do so as wilful unlawful neglect of duty causing injury to another. The date of the determination is therefore worth pinning down, with the thirty days counted from it.
LAW
The legislation
- Civil Service Act B.E. 2551 (2008), sections 114 and 116
- Act on Establishment of Administrative Courts and Administrative Court Procedure B.E. 2542 (1999)
ENQUIRIES
