Thailand court upholds anti-disability hiring policy

Associated Press

BANGKOK, Thailand -- A court upheld a decision by a government agency to bar a lawyer with a physical disability from taking a test to become a public prosecutor, ruling that the agency has the right to choose the "right person" for the job.

The verdict on Thursday drew fire from civil rights and lawyers groups, which vowed to intensify efforts to fight laws in Thailand that exclude people with disabilities from a range of occupations ranging from teachers to masseuses.

The Constitutional Court ruled 12-3 that the State Attorney Commission had not violated the constitution when it prevented Sirimit Boonmul from taking an exam to become a prosecutor because it deemed his "personality and body were in an inappropriate state."

"It is the right of the State Attorney Commission to recruit the right person to work in its agency," the court ruled Sirimit, a 34-year-old lawyer, has a physical disability caused by childhood polio.

The ruling upheld a law allowing state agencies to set their own hiring policies and followed a verdict in May in which the court backed a decision by the judicial commission to turn down Sirimit for an assistant judge's job on similar grounds.

The commission said at that time that judges must be held in high regard by society and that they must have an appearance that inspires public awe and respect.

A rights group, the Association for Protection of the Rights of Disabled, criticized the court Friday and said it would increase pressure on the government to change discriminatory laws.

"Judges use brains to deliberate, to consider the case, not legs," said spokesman Sirichai Trapsiri. "The disabled have an equal right to be judges."

Laws in Thailand exclude people with disabilities from occupations including police officers, masseuses, judges, prosecutors, public utilities employees and teachers, according to the Council of Disabled People of Thailand.

A lawyers group called those laws outdated, saying physical fitness was a requirement for judges decades ago when they were required to travel to remote rural areas to hear cases.
"But in this era of cars, elevators and wheelchairs, disabled people can also be judges," said Thana Benjatikul, secretary-general of the Lawyers' Association of Thailand. "It is the time to change in order to prevent discriminatory acts in the future."

Sirimit said he would continue to fight bias against people with physical disabilities, adding that he planned to file a petition in an administrative court next week.
"I am not fighting for myself alone but for all disabled," he said.