Bangkok Legal Service

Article 8. The Plaintiff brings action against the Defendant for breach of contract and claiming damages. The Defendant filed a statement of defense, asserting that it did not commit a breach against the Plaintiff and that the Plaintiff’s claim of lack of legal capacity had been dismissed. The Court of First Instance adjudicated the sole issue that the Defendant did not commit a breach against the Plaintiff, ruling the Defendant’s case dismissed. The Plaintiff appealed the dismissal, arguing that the Defendant did not commit a breach against the Plaintiff, citing the reasons as determined by the Court of First Instance. Subsequently, after the expiration of two days to file a supplementary appeal, the Defendant filed a request to amend the Defendant’s statement of defense, introducing the issue of “Plaintiff’s claim of lack of legal capacity” into the appeal. The Court of First Instance allowed the Defendant’s supplementary appeal. The Court of Appeal adjudicated that the Defendant committed a breach against the Plaintiff, and the Defendant paid damages as claimed by the Plaintiff. The Defendant submitted a plea that it did not commit a breach against the Plaintiff, and the Court of First Instance accepted the Defendant’s plea. The following occurred: If you were a Court of Appeal, which issues would you adjudicate on the Defendant’s appeal? The amendment of appeal is identical to the statement of claim, just as the statement in the appeal addresses the issues within it, and the Court of Appeal can adjudicate these issues according to Section 1 (3), (4), (5), (6) of the Civil Procedure Code. The filing of a request to amend the Defendant’s statement of appeal is the same as filing an appeal. It must be filed within the period for filing an appeal according to the Civil Procedure Code, and if the period expires, it will only be accepted as a statement of claim, not a statement of claim of the parties, and therefore cannot raise issues within it. The facts of this case revealed that the Defendant filed a request to amend the Defendant’s statement of appeal to add the issue “Plaintiff’s claim of lack of legal capacity.” After the expiration of the period for filing an appeal, even though the Court of First Instance issued an order allowing it to be accepted as an appeal, it did not constitute a supplementary appeal by the Defendant. Instead, it was considered only as a statement of claim by the Court of First Instance, and therefore the statement of claim of the parties could not raise issues within it. Consequently, the issue of whether the Defendant contested the matter in the Court of Appeal, as presented in the statement of appeal filed within the period, remained as a single issue that the Defendant alone contested. Regarding the issue “Plaintiff’s claim of lack of legal capacity,” although there was a dispute in the Court of First Instance, it was no longer raised in the Court of Appeal due to the aforementioned reasons, making it more difficult to bring it up in the Court of Appeal. According to Section 249 of the Civil Procedure Code for Litigation of Civil Cases, this is not a matter of public tranquility, according to Section 24 of the Civil Procedure Code for Litigation of Civil Cases. The Court of Appeal would not adjudicate this issue. The Court of Appeal would only adjudicate the Plaintiff’s single issue that the Defendant committed a breach against the Plaintiff or not.