The Lawyers Council holds a press conference today to reveal its plan to file the lawsuits over the blackchin fish invasion. Credit: Lawyers Council of Thailand

Lawyers Council sets to file lawsuits against concerned agencies and “the company” over blackchin fish invasion

The leading law advocacy organisation said this is to set a new norm regarding accountability and responsibility of wrongdoers over wrongdoings that have caused great damage to the country and the extent to which they should be held responsible

The Lawyers Council of Thailand under the Royal Patronage, which provides legal action and advice over critical cases for communities and the poor nationwide, has revealed at its press conference today that the organisation will take legal action on behalf of affected communities against concerned agencies and “the company” over the invasion of blackchin tilapia fish, which has caused great damage to the environment and fishing and aquaculture communities in at least 17 provinces so far.

The Lawyers Council said its Offices of Administrative Cases and Environmental Cases are working together on the lawsuits, which will be separated into an administrative legal case and a class action lawsuit. The first is to target concerned agencies for their negligence of duty in supervising the fish import and research in the first place, and the second lawsuit is to focus on “the company”, which had imported the fish into the country in 2010 before they spread in several areas six or seven years later. 

The organisation did not name the name of “the company” at the press conference but it’s publicly known that CPF was the only company that had imported the fish into the country at that time. (Read: CPF reaffirms it has no role in spread of invasive blackchin fish)

The administrative case is set to seek liability and enforcement on concerned agencies to take legal action against “the company” for reparations for the damage done to the ecosystems and the costs the government has paid to clear the mess caused by the spread of the fish. The company, at the same time, will also be subject to the class action lawsuit, under which direct compensation will be sought from it for the damage done to individual fishers and fish owners in those 17 provinces, the Lawyers Council said, adding this approach is based on the Polluter Pays principle.

The Lawyers Council said the spread of blackchin tilapia fish is an environmental crisis over the country’s biodiversity and the ecosystems of freshwaters to seawaters as the damage has occurred greatly to those ecosystems and fish species there. 

The import of blackchin tilapia fish from Africa and permission were undertaken by concerned agencies and the company with a citation over “breeding improvement for business purposes”. However, the work became negligent and reckless to the environment, causing the spread of the fish, which has become a crisis with great impact on the country.

The Lawyers Council has received a number of complaints from the affected residents and is fully aware of the situation, leading to its decision to take up the case for legal proceedings, it said.

“We are fully aware of the situation and the public eagerness to know the truth, especially as to who should be held responsible for the incident as well as the damage done, including the state budgets spent up to clear the mess. The Lawyers Council has examined all available information and facts from concerned parties and decided to proceed with the case so that it can be proved in court.

“This is to set a new norm that once a wrongdoing that has caused a great damage to the country takes place, who should be held responsible and to what extent they should be held responsible,” said the organisation’s Vice President, Sanyapatchara Samart.

The Lawyers Council said it’s confident in the information and evidence in its hands and quite ready to file the cases to the courts, pending more complaints from affected residents in those areas if there will be any further. The organisation sets the date to file the cases on August 16, according to its President, Dr.Vichian Chubthaisong.

 If the cases are brought to the courts, this will be the first time that the damage to natural resources or ecosystems caused by living organisms, not pollution, is subject to court deliberation. The organisation did not rule out the possibility of filing a criminal case against the wrongdoers if there is sufficient evidence available, it further noted.

CPF, on the other hand, has also posed a legal threat against providers and users of information it claims to be “misleading”. At least three photographs used during a panel discussion organised by BioThai on Friday are claimed by the company as misleading. (Read: CPF accused of breeding blackchin fish since first fish import)

It said that the location in one photograph presented on the panel is not its farm. The other photograph also falsely mapped its farm and some ponds inside, while breeding-related activities in the last photograph were not at its farm and they apparently did not meet the company’s standards of practice, CPFs’ executives said at the press conference yesterday.

CPF said providers and users of the information and photographs should be held responsible and legal action will be taken, adding the company is willing to cooperate in fact-finding processes while it needs to protect its reputation from those misleading facts that have caused misunderstanding in the company’s practices.

CPF has rejected the invitations by the House’s fact-finding sub-panel, which is investigating the facts concerning the spread of the fish, twice. The sub-panel is reported to be contemplating on inviting it to provide information for the third time.