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Borwornsak Uwanno ( th, บวรศักดิ์ อุวรรณโณ , sometimes spelled ''Bowornsak Uwanno''; born October 19, 1954) is a Thai legal expert, government official and professor-emeritus of Law at
Chulalongkorn University Chulalongkorn University (CU, th, จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย, ), nicknamed Chula ( th, จุฬาฯ), is a public and autonomous research university in Bangkok, Thailand. The university was originally fo ...
. He was a principal member of the 1997 Constitution Drafting Committee and served as secretary-general of King Prajadhipok's Institute and later cabinet secretary-general under
Thaksin Shinawatra Thaksin Shinawatra ( th, ทักษิณ ชินวัตร; ; ; Chinese: 丘達新; cnr, Taksin Šinavatra; born 26 July 1949), is a Thai businessman, politician and visiting professor. He served in the Thai Police from 1973 to 1987, ...
's government. After the coups d'état of 2006 and 2014, he helped authoring interim constitutions and served in junta-appointed legislative bodies. In 2017 he has chaired the government's Legal Reform Committee.


Life

Borwornsak was born in the Southern Thai city of
Songkhla Songkhla ( th, สงขลา, ), also known as Singgora or Singora (Pattani Malay: ซิงกอรอ), is a city (''thesaban nakhon'') in Songkhla Province of southern Thailand, near the border with Malaysia. Songkhla lies south of Ba ...
. He is divorced from Parichat Chumsai na Ayutthaya, with whom he has two children. After graduating from the prestigious Triam Udom Suksa School, Borwornsak studied law at
Chulalongkorn University Chulalongkorn University (CU, th, จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย, ), nicknamed Chula ( th, จุฬาฯ), is a public and autonomous research university in Bangkok, Thailand. The university was originally fo ...
, obtaining a "gold-medal" first class
honours degree Honours degree has various meanings in the context of different degrees and education systems. Most commonly it refers to a variant of the undergraduate bachelor's degree containing a larger volume of material or a higher standard of study, or ...
in 1975 and was admitted to the Thai bar the following year. From 1976 he taught as a lecturer at the Faculty of Law of his ''alma mater''. He continued his studies in France, completing a DSU in administrative law from University of Paris II (Panthéon-Assas) in 1979, a
DEA The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic enf ...
and a third-cycle doctorate in general public law from
Paris Nanterre University Paris Nanterre University (French: ''Université Paris Nanterre''), formerly Paris-X and commonly referred to as Nanterre, is a public research university based in Nanterre, Paris, France. It is one of the most prestigious French universities, ma ...
in 1982. In 1988, Borwornsak became a policy advisor at the Secretariat of the Prime Minister, rising to deputy secretary to the Prime Minister for policy matters the following year. In 1991, he returned to his academic function, teaching administrative law at Chulalongkorn University. Borwornsak was a member of the House Ad Hoc Committee on Constitutional Reform (1993–94) and a member of the Committee of Democracy Development that amended the 1992 Constitution. In 1995, he served as the dean of the Faculty of Law. Borwornsak was the secretary-general of the Constitution Drafting Committee preparing the 1997 Constitution. In 1998, he completed a course at the
National Defence College of Thailand The National Defence College of Thailand or NDC ( th, วิทยาลัยป้องกันราชอาณาจักร, Witayalai Bongkan Ratcha-Anarchak) is an education organization that provides advanced training for both senior m ...
. From 1999 to 2003, he served as the secretary-general of King Prajadhipok's Institute, a state-run research and education centre for democratic politics and administration. In 2003, he once again entered government service, becoming secretary-general of the cabinet, the highest-ranking civil servant advising the cabinet on legal affairs. In this position he succeeded his personal friend
Wissanu Krea-ngam Wissanu Krea-ngam ( th, วิษณุ เครืองาม, , ; born 15 September 1951) is a Thai jurist, professor, and politician. He was the secretary-general of the cabinet from 1993 to 2002 and deputy prime minister under Thaksin Shinaw ...
who had become Deputy Prime Minister in
Thaksin Shinawatra Thaksin Shinawatra ( th, ทักษิณ ชินวัตร; ; ; Chinese: 丘達新; cnr, Taksin Šinavatra; born 26 July 1949), is a Thai businessman, politician and visiting professor. He served in the Thai Police from 1973 to 1987, ...
's government. During the 2005–06 Thai political crisis and after the dissolution of parliament, both Wissanu and Borwornsak distanced themselves from the Thaksin administration and resigned their respective government posts. Borwornsak temporarily entered Buddhist monkhood. After the 19 September 2006 military coup, Borwornsak Uwanno, alongside Wissanu Krea-ngam and Meechai Ruchuphan, helped the military junta ( Council for Democratic Reform under the Constitutional Monarchy, CDR) drafting a post-coup interim constitution. According to political scientist
Thitinan Pongsudhirak Thitinan Pongsudhirak ( th, ฐิตินันท์ พงษ์สุทธิรักษ์) is a Thai political scientist, speaker and Associate Professor at Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, where he is t ...
, Borwornsak and Wissanu could "seemingly write constitutions overnight". Subsequently, Borwornsak became a member of the junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly. After the
2014 Thai coup d'état On 22 May 2014, the Royal Thai Armed Forces, led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Commander of the Royal Thai Army (RTA), launched a coup d'état, the 12th since the country's first coup in 1932, against the caretaker government of Thailand, fo ...
, Borwornsak was appointed member of the National Reform Council (NRC), serving as this body's deputy speaker. At the same time, he chaired the junta-appointed Constitution Drafting Committee. However, in September 2015, the draft was rejected by a majority of the NRC members, resulting in a dissolution of both the drafting committee and the NRC itself. Borwornsak was replaced by Meechai Ruchuphan as chairman of a new Constitution Drafting Committee. In August 2017, Prime Minister
Prayut Chan-o-cha Prayut Chan-o-cha (sometimes spelled Prayuth Chan-ocha; th, ประยุทธ์ จันทร์โอชา, ; born 21 March 1954) is a Thai politician and retired Royal Thai Army, army officer who has served as the Prime Minister of T ...
appointed him chairman of the Legal Reform Committee.


Work

Being strongly involved in the drafting of the Thai constitutions of 1997 and 2017 as well as the 2006 interim constitution, Borwornsak is considered to be one of the country's most influential constitutional experts. In the 1997 Constitution drafting process, he was a main advocate of the introduction of a
Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
modelled after continental European courts. At the same time he was apprehensive of providing the court with too much power and successfully advised against mentioning it in article 7, a crucial provision for constitutional conflict situations. As a legal scholar, Borwornsak has published articles justifying the strong role of the monarchy in Thai politics, the severe punishment of Lèse majesté as well as the recurrent military coups toppling democratically elected governments in the country. After his retirement from the Thaksin administration in 2006, he published a lengthy article about the "Ten Principles of a Righteous King" and their role in Thai constitutional tradition, lauding the monarch as the "Supreme Arbitrator and Conciliator of the Nation". According to Borwornsak, Thailand's
sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person ...
resides in both the monarchy and the people. By granting a constitution in 1932, the King shared his sovereignty with the people. After each ''coup d'état'', the sovereignty reverts to the monarch until he signs an interim constitution, whereby he again shares sovereignty with the people. Political scientist Eugénie Mérieau mentions Borwornsak, together with Wissanu Krea-ngam and Meechai Ruchuphan, as a leading example of academics who laid the legal foundations for authoritarian government in Thailand and an exponent of a "legal–military alliance for illiberal constitutionalism".


Decorations

Borwornsak has received the following decorations and awards in the
Honours System An order is a visible honour awarded by a sovereign state, monarch, dynastic house or organisation to a person, typically in recognition of individual merit, that often comes with distinctive insignia such as collars, medals, badges, and sashe ...
of Thailand: * Knight Grand Cordon (Special Class) of the
Order of the White Elephant __NOTOC__ The Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant ( th, เครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์อันเป็นที่เชิดชูยิ่งช้างเผือก; ) is an order of Thailand. It w ...
(2000) * Knight Grand Cordon (Special Class) of the
Order of the Crown of Thailand The Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand ( th, เครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์อันมีเกียรติยศยิ่งมงกุฎไทย; ) is a Thai order, established in 1869 by King Rama ...
(1995) * Knight Grand Cross (First Class) of the
Order of the Direkgunabhorn __NOTOC__ The Most Admirable Order of the Direkgunabhorn ( th, เครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์อันเป็นที่สรรเสริญยิ่งดิเรกคุณาภรณ์; ) was establi ...
(2004) * Grand Companion (Third Class, Upper Grade) of the
Order of Chula Chom Klao The Most Illustrious Order of Chula Chom Klao ( th, เครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์จุลจอมเกล้า; ) was established on 16 November 1873 by King Rama V of The Kingdom of Siam (now Thailand) to c ...
(2004) In addition, following foreign decorations were conferred on him: * Knight Grand Cross of the
Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...
(Netherlands) * Officer of the
National Order of Merit (France) An order of merit is conferred by a state, government or royal family on an individual in recognition of military or civil merit. Order of merit may also refer to: * FIFA Order of Merit, for significant contribution to association football * PDC O ...


References

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