J. W. Leeds*
Introduction:
The United States government
places a high priority on international law enforcement,
and plays a leading role in the International Police Organization
(Interpol). Each year the United States enacts new laws,
and amends old laws in an effort to expand its international
law enforcement powers, particularly in the areas of drug
trafficking, high tech smuggling, and terrorist activity.(1)
This expanding US interest in international law enforcement
has resulted in a great number of US agencies, resources,
and projects being carried out in foreign countries. The
Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has been at the forefront
of this activity, with its agents and representatives
performing a plethora of activities in foreign nations.(2)
The
DEA maintains the largest overseas law enforcement presence
of any US civilian agency. Their agents represent the
United States interest in international drug control both
within the United States embassies and in diplomatic interactions
with host state officials. They maintain communication
with local law enforcement officials, provide training
for local police, undertake joint drug enforcement operations
with local police, conduct unilateral actions such as
surveillance and the recruitment of informants, provide
intelligence to local officials, and lobby for changes
in their host countries laws.(3)
Thailand
has been an area of particular interest to the United
States government, and the DEA, primarily because of the
belief that it serves as the primary conduit for heroin
from the Golden Triangle transported to The United States.(4)
Working in conjunction with Thai officials, the DEA has
been successful at infiltrating heroin trafficking organizations
within Thailand at the highest levels, ensnaring prominent
Thai government and military officials, and extraditing
them to stand trial in the United States.
Thailand,
with its unique legal system and cultural heritage, presents
special problems and issues when confronted by the interdiction
of the United States government agencies such as the DEA.
These issues include the principles of Sovereignty, Conflict
of Laws, and the practical implementation of binational
law enforcement cooperation and extradition agreements.
This article analyzes the legal processes used by the
United States, and the problems it encounters, in both
expanding and enforcing its law enforcement jurisdiction
internationally, and particularly within Thailand. It
also examines the effects of such extraterritorial imposition
of law enforcement power by US agencies upon foreign legal
systems, and in particular, the Thai legal system.
Thailand's
Legal Heritage: The origins of Thai law have been
traced to three general sources: Thai Customary Law, Buddhist
Law, and Chinese/Maritime Law.(5)
During the Lanna Kingdom period of Thailand's history,
which began in the year 1296 AD, the influence of Buddhism
on the secular(6) law was
particularly strong. Royal Decrees and judgments frequently
made direct comparisons between state law and religious
texts. Similarly, the Buddhist influence also manifested
itself through the use of monks as the official scribes
and chief scholars for the Kingdom. Aspects of the Vinaya,
a religious text which originally was a code of conduct
for the guidance of the Sangha (monk) community, were
also the source of much secular law.
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