The bill aimed at preventing repeat criminal offenses relating to sexual or violent crimes, known as the JSOC bill, has taken effect. There are currently 17,807 inmates who fall under the stipulations of the new law.
Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin held a press conference announcing the enforcement of the JSOC law. He said the new law is of great importance to fostering safety within society. By making use of surveillance and monitoring of persons who previously committed a sexual or violent crime, the law will become one of the tools for crime prevention. Mr. Somsak added that society will feel less threatened by dangerous persons. There are two major measures employed by this law. These include medical undertakings to treat the crime perpetrators while they are in prison and surveillance of these individuals after they have completed their sentence.
JSOC is the abbreviation for Justice Safety Observation Ad hoc Center, which was set up by the Ministry of Justice to monitor certain inmates after their release.
The justice minister explained that those under surveillance will have an EM bracelet attached to them for a maximum of 10 years. The person may be detained immediately by police officers or certain other officials if they exhibit risky behavior. Detention may last no more than 48 hours although the person may be entered into a probation period. The court may be asked to approve an emergency detention period lasting no more than 7 additional days. 3 years of additional prison term may be considered for some perpetrators instead of placing them under surveillance.
Mr. Somsak said the target groups for the JSOC law include individuals who committed sexual crimes, bodily harm, kidnapping, or detention of others.
Information from the Department of Corrections indicates there are 17,807 inmates who fall under the stipulations of the JSOC law. 5,683 are jailed for sexual crimes, 12,068 are serving time for crimes relating to bodily harm and 56 are in prison for the detention of others. (NNT)
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