Three Seals Law

A copy of the Palace Law, displayed at the House of Representatives of Thailand.

The seals of the Mahatthai (represented by a rajasiha), Kalahom (a gajasiha) and Phrakhlang (the Bua Kaeo seal) give the law its name.

The Three Seals Law or Three Seals Code (Thai: กฎหมายตราสามดวง; RTGS: Kotmai Tra Sam Duang) is a collection of law texts compiled in 1805 on the orders of King Rama I of Siam. Most of the texts were laws from the Ayutthaya era which had survived the destruction of Ayutthaya in 1767. The compilation remained the working law of Siam until partially replaced by modern law codes in the early 20th century. The texts are an important source for the history of the Ayutthaya Kingdom and legal history in Asia.

Parts of the Three Seals Law are still in force, according to a ruling of the Supreme Court of Justice of Thailand in 1978.[1]

Background

King Rama I paid attention to the preservation of Thai texts that had survived the destruction of Ayutthaya in 1767, including the royal chronicles and religious texts. Shortly after completing a revision of the Tipiṭaka, the Buddhist canonical scriptures, in 1804, he turned his attention to the laws.

After a court awarded a divorce to a woman, Amdaeng Pom, even though she had committed adultery, her husband, Bunsi, sent a petition, claiming the judge had been biased. On examination, all copies of the marriage law showed the woman had the legal right to this divorce. Suspecting that this and others laws had been “modified,” King Rama I ordered a revision of all existing law texts:[2][3]

Hence the king graciously commanded that subjects with knowledge be assigned to cleanse (chamra) the royal decrees and laws in the palace library from the Thammasat onwards; ensure they are correct in every detail according to the Pali with no inconsistencies in their content; arrange them into chapters and groups; and take pains to cleanse and adjust any aberrations to accord with justice, in keeping with the king’s gracious intent to be of benefit to kings who reign over the realm in future. (Royal preface to the Three Seals Law)[4]

The royally appointed commission, consisting of three judges, four royal scribes, and four officials from the Department of Royal Teachers, completed the task in 11 months, producing 27 laws in a total of 41 volumes of the accordion-style book known as samut thai khao. Each law was stamped with the seals of the ministries of Mahatthai (north), Kalahom (south), and Phrakhlang (treasury), hence the name of the compilation. Three working copies were made, kept in the Royal Bedchamber, court of justice, and the Palace Library, respectively. A fourth copy was made shortly after and stored as a backup.[5][6]

Parts of the Three Seals Law were replaced by modern laws drafted with the help of foreign advisers in a Penal Code promulgated in 1908 and a Civil and Commercial Code promulgated in parts between 1923 and 1935.[7]

In 1978, the Supreme Court of Justice of Thailand ruled that the parts of the Three Seals Law not having been replaced or overruled by any other subsequent laws remain in force still. Those parts include Lak Inthaphat (Tenets of Indra).[1]

Contents

In the table below, the laws are listed in the order they were approved in 1805 with the original titles and original Thai spelling, taken from facsimile texts published by the Royal Institute (now the Royal Society of Thailand).[8] Some of the 27 listed texts contained multiple laws, giving a total of 41 laws. In subsequent publications, some titles were changed, and some laws amalgamated. The ‘pp’ column shows the number of pages of each law in the Khurusapha edition, as a gauge of relative length. The dates shown are as given in the prefaces of the laws. The era used for the dating of each text is not known, and many of these dates have clearly been corrupted during copying.[9][10]

Contents of the Three Seals Law
Thai titleTransliterationTranslationppdate
ประกาศพระราชปรารภPrakat phraratchapraropRoyal Announcement (preface)61166
พระทำนูนPhra thamnunRoyal Law33
พระทำนูนphra thamnunRoyal Law121544
ใช้ตราด้วยราชการchai tra duai ratchakanuse of official seals211555
พระธรรมสาตรPhra thammasatThammasat35-
หลักอินทภาษLak inthaphatTenets of Indra27-
วิวาทด่าตีWiwat da tiDispute, Abuse, and Assault241369
พระไอยการลักษณรับฟ้องPhra aiyakan laksana rap fongLaw on Acceptance of Cases41
รับฟ้องrap fongacceptance of cases101899
โจทกะเฉทกะchothakachetthakadismissal of cases71591
ตัดสำนวนtat samnuandisqualification6-
ตัดพญาณtat phayanrejection of witnesses71926
ประวิงความprawing khwamdelay3-
อัญะมัญะปฎิภาศanyamanyapatiphatsubstitution8-
พระไอยการลักษณกู้หนี้Phra aiyakan laksana ku niLaw on Credit and Debt351278
มรดกMoradokInheritance382155, 2158
พระไอยการลักษณอุธรPhra aiyakan laksana utthonLaw on Appeal311555
พระไอยการลักษณตระลาการPhra aiyakan laksana tralakanLaw on Judges511900
พระไอยการลักษณผัวเมียPhra aiyakan laksana phu miaLaw on Husband and Wife801904
พระไอยการลักษณภญานPhra aiyakan laksana phayanLaw on Witnesses371894
พระไอยการลักษณโจรPhra aiyakan laksana chonLaw on Theft951903
พระไอยการลักภาลูกเมียผู้คนท่าน บานผแนกPhra aiyakan lakpha luk mia phu khon than ban phanaekLaw on Abduction of Children, Wives, and Dependents and Division of Persons46
พระไอยการลักภาลูกเมียผู้คนท่านlakpha luk mia phu khon thanabduction of children, wives, or dependents201899
พระไอยการบานผแนกban phanaekdivision of persons261052, 1095, 1086
พระไอยการทาษPhra aiyakan thatLaw on Slaves591359, 1387, 1557, 1267
พระไอยการกระบดศึกPhra aiyakan krabot suekLaw on Revolt and Warfare49
กระบดkrabotrevolt171373
ศึกsuekwarfare321374
กฎพระสงฆKot phra songLaw on the Monkhood65-
พระราชบัญญัติPhra ratchabanyatRoyal Legislation351146-1167
นาทหารหัวเมืองNa thahan hua mueangMilitary and Provincial Lists59-
ลักษณพีสูทดำน้ำพิสูทลุยเพลิงLaksana phisut dam nam phisut lui phloengLaw on Ordeal by Water or Fire181899
กฎมณเทิยรบาลKot monthianbanPalace Law91720
พระไอยการตำแหน่งนาพลเรือนPhra aiyakan tamnaeng phonlarueanCivil list221298
พระไอยการอาญาหลวงPhra aiyakan aya luangLaw of Crimes against Government114
อาญาหลวงaya luangcrimes against government1051895
อาญาราษaya ratcrimes against people91902
พระไอยการเบดเสรจPhra aiyakan betsetMiscellaneous Laws90
ทีบ้านที่สวนthi ban thi suanhouse and paddy field201263
เสนียดแก่กันsaniat kae kaninvective and cursing181903
เช่า ยืม ซื้อ ขายchao yuem sue khairentals, lending, purchase271565
พนันขันต่อกันphanan khanto kangambling4-
วิวาทด้วยความสาเหดุwiwat duai khwam sahetjust cause91906
เวทวิทธยาคมแลกฤษติยาคุณwetwithayakhom lae krittiyakhunmagic and spirits131146
กฎ ๓๖ ข้อKot 36 khoThirty-six Laws291012-1118
พระราชกำหนดใหม่Phraratcha kamnot maiNew Royal Decrees1791144-1167
พระราชกำหนดเก่าPhraratcha kamnot kaoOld Royal Decrees2541069-1117
พระไอยการพรมศักดิPhra aiyakan phrommasakLaw on Punishment37
พิกัดกระเสียรอายุศมphikat krasian ayutvaluation by age12955
พระไอยการพรมศักดิphra aiyakan phrommasaklaw on punishment25-

Publication

In 1849, Mot Amatyakun and the American missionary Dan Beach Bradley printed an edition of the Three Seals Law. King Rama III objected and had the books destroyed. One copy of the first volume survived (now in the National Library of Thailand), and the planned second volume may never have been printed.[11]

In 1862–3, Dan Beach Bradley, with the permission of King Rama IV (Mongkut), printed the edition planned in 1849 in two volumes under the title Nangsue rueang kotmai mueang thai (Book on laws of Siam). The edition was printed ten times and widely used.[11]

In 1938-9, a modern edition was prepared by the French legal scholar Robert Lingat and published in three volumes by Thammasat University under the title Pramuan kotmai ratchakan thi 1 C.S. 1166 phim tam chabap luang tra sam duang (Law code of King Rama I, 1805, printed following the Three Seals edition).[12] All modern editions stem from this work.

In 1962-3, Ongkankha Khong Khurusapha (government printers for textbooks, etc.) published a 5-volume edition, based on the Thammasat University edition with corrections, entitled Kotmai tra sam duang (Three Seals Code). A third edition appeared in 1994.[13]

To mark the 200th anniversary of the compilation of the Three Seals Law, the Royal Institute (now the Royal Society of Thailand) published a two-volume edition in 2007 with facsimiles of the manuscripts and transcription, entitled Kotmai tra sam duang: chabap ratchabandittayasathan (Three Seals Code, Royal Institute edition).[14]

Scholarship

Robert Lingat, editor of the 1938-9 edition of the Three Seals Law, published several articles and books on the historical antecedents of the law, and on the law on slavery.[15][12][16]

In 1957, MR Seni Pramoj, a lawyer and former prime minister, gave a lecture in Thai summarizing the Three Seals Law, subsequently published as a book.[17]

In 1986, Yoneo Ishii published an English-language summary and analysis of the Three Seals Law.[18] Ishii also headed a project at Kyoto University to produce a computer concordance of the complete text.[19] Access to this database is available through the Center of Integrated Study at Kyoto University, and through the Ayutthaya Digital Archive Project of the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy (see External Links below).

Michael Vickery published two articles querying the accuracy of the dates appearing in the prefaces off the Three Seals Law texts.[20][21]

Tamara Loos traced the replacement of the Three Seals Law by modern laws in a Cornell University doctoral thesis published in 2002.[22]

On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Three Seals Law in 2005, several researches were published by Thai scholars including Winai Pongsripian, Krisda Boonyasmit, Woraphon Phuphongphan, Pimpan Paiboonwangcharoen, Jakkrit Uttho, and Channarong Bunnun.[23][24]

References

Citations

Sources

  • Ishii, Yoneo (1986). "The Thai Thammasat (with a Note on the Lao Thammasat)". In Hooker, M.B. The Laws of South-East Asia,. 1. Singapore: Butterworth. pp. 43–203.
  • Ishii, Yoneo; Shibayama, Mamoru; Wichienkiew, Aroonrut (1991). Computer Concordance to the Law of the Three Seals. Bangkok: Amarin.
  • Khurusapha (1994). Kotmai tra sam duang [Three Seals Code]. Bangkok: Khurusapha.
  • Lingat, Robert (1929). "Note sur la revision des lois siamoises en 1805". Journal of the Siam Society (23, 1): 19–27.
  • Lingat, Robert (1931). L'esclavage privé dans le vieux droit siamois. Paris: Les Editions Domat-Montchrestien.
  • Lingat, Robert (1938–39). Pramuan kotmai ratchakan thi 1 C.S. 1166 phim tam chabap luang tra sam duang [Law Code of King Rama I, 1805, printed following the Three Seals edition]. Bangkok: Thammasat University.
  • Loos, Tamara (2002). Subject Siam: Family, Law, and Colonial Modernity in Thailand. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
  • Paiboonwangcharoen, Pimphan (2004). "Kotmai tra sam duang: kan sueksa ton chabap tua khian lae chabap tua phim" [Three Seals Code: Study of Manuscript and Printed Versions]. In Pongsripian, Winai. Kotmai tra sam duang: waen song sangkhom [Three Seals Code: Mirror of Thai Society]. Bangkok: Thailand Research Fund. pp. 33–60.
  • Pongsripian, Winai (2004). Kotmai tra sam duang: waen song sangkhom thai [Three Seals Code: Mirror of Thai Society]. Bangkok: Thailand Research Fund.
  • Pongsripian, Winai (2005). Kot monthianban chabap chaloemphrakiat [Palace Law, Royal Anniversary Edition]. Ithaca: Thailand Research Fund.
  • Prachumyat, Natthaphon Nanthamanop (2013-11-04). "Lak Inthaphat Nai Kotmai Tra Sam Duang Lae Saphap Bangkhap Khong Kotmai Tra Sam Duang Nai Patchuban" หลักอินทภาษในกฎหมายตราสามดวง และสภาพบังคับของกฎหมายตราสามดวงในปัจจุบัน [Indra' Tenets in Three Seals Law and Enforceability of Three Seals Law in Our Days] (pdf). Law Data Centre, Senate of Thailand (in Thai). Bangkok: Senate of Thailand. Retrieved 2016-06-07.
  • Pramoj, Seni (1957). Pathakatha rueang kotmai samai si ayutthaya [A Lecture on Law in the Ayutthaya Era]. Bangkok: Committee for the Ayutthaya Memorial.
  • Royal Institute of Thailand (2007). Kotmai tra sam duang: chabap ratchabandittayasathan [Three Seals Code: Royal Institute Edition]. Bangkok: Royal Institute of Thailand.
  • Vickery, Michael (1984). "Prolegomena to Methods for Using the Ayutthayan Laws as Historical Source Material". Journal of the Siam Society (72): 37–58.
  • Vickery, Michael (1996). "The Constitution of Ayutthaya: An Investigation into the Three Seals Code". In Huxley, Andrew. Thai Law: Buddhist Law. Essays on the Legal History of Thailand, Laos and Burma. Bangkok: White Orchid. pp. 133–210.
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