Event Summary
On 11 December 2025, Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced the dissolution of Parliament, which took effect the following day and brought the current legislative session to an abrupt end. As a result, the Amnesty Bill under consideration in the Senate lapsed in accordance with Section 147(1) of the 2017 Constitution. As reported before, the bill had sought to address politically motivated prosecutions linked to years of political unrest and protest-related charges.
The lapse of the Amnesty Bill has significant implications for the enabling environment for civil society, as it prolongs legal uncertainty for thousands of individuals facing prosecution, detention, or ongoing legal proceedings for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association. These include activists, students, journalists, human rights defenders, and other citizens prosecuted under laws such as Sections 112 (lèse-majesté) and 116 (sedition) of the Criminal Code. While the bill could be reinstated after elections, this would require a formal request by the newly formed Cabinet within 60 days of the first parliamentary sitting, followed by parliamentary approval.
The bill’s lapse follows a recurring pattern in which legislative initiatives addressing past political repression are disrupted by political transitions and institutional intervention. This event is linked to the previously reported failure of the Amnesty Bill to advance, further prolonging legal uncertainty for victims of political prosecution.