East Asia’s Renewed Respect for the Rule of Law in the 21st Century (original) (raw)
Related papers
Law and Legal Institutions of Asia
2011
The study of Asia and its plural legal systems is of increasing significance, both within and outside Asia. Lawyers, whether in Australia, America or Europe, or working within an Asian jurisdiction, require a sound knowledge of how the law operates across this fast-growing and diverse region. Law and Legal Institutions of Asia is the first book to offer a comprehensive assessment of 11 key jurisdictions in Asia
Thai Legal Studies: An Editorial for the Inaugural Issue
Thai Legal Studies, 2021
Thai legal studies present a growing field of study in English-language academic literature. Academic work by Thai scholars and international scholars who work on Thailand is now appearing in many places, and several books have appeared in recent times. 1 This field has now reached a level of activity and maturity that merits an academic journal in English. The so-called "pivot to Asia" has embraced work on China and India. Both of these countries have specialised academic journals in English devoted to their law and legal development, and we believe Southeast Asia is the next focus for comparative work. It is also significant that Thai law contains both civil law and common law components, and is increasingly eclectic in its models for law reform. We believe the pages of this journal will bear out this assertion. Moreover, as a middle-income developing country, Thailand provides a model for law and development and for regional integration. Thailand is also a major Southeast Asian economy and a centre of gravity of ASEAN, possessing a legal system growing rapidly in scope and sophistication. For example, legislation recently has been passed to rationalise and improve the law-making process, 2 and Thailand is also experimenting with the trust, a common law device. 3 Thailand's growing connections and relations with the international community ensure a wide audience for our new journal, as the development of law in Thailand is open to international and regional influences. This is being reflected in academic research as well as other areas, such as judicial and legal professional training programmes.
Conflict of Genders in Conflict of Laws: Unresolved Problems in Thailand and Elsewhere
This paper is a reflection of academic exchanges in a research project which is being developed into a proposal for a new legislation on gender recognition in Thailand. It was led by the research team of Professor Orungrote at Thammasat University. The aim of the legislation is to promote the right to gender identity, especially of transsexual and intersexual groups, but it is controversial because of the need to ascertain or establish conflict rules. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to prove that it will be problematic for the judiciary if the conflict rules related to gender justice continue to remain unclear. In other words, the primary objective of this paper is to contribute to the process of the development of private international law in respect of gender justice, which has been addressed in very few studies from either the west or the east. The ‘Conflict of genders’, as used in the title, signifies an inaugural problem, which makes it difficult to apply the conflict rules.
Women and the Judiciary in the Asia Pacific
Women and the Judiciary in the Asia Pacific, 2021
Courts can play an important role in addressing issues of inequality, discrimination and gender injustice for women. The feminisation of the judiciary – both in its thin meaning of women's entrance into the profession, as well as its thicker forms of realising gender justice – is a core part of the agenda for gender equality. This volume acknowledges both the diversity of meanings of the feminisation of the judiciary, as well as the complexity of the social and cultural realisation of gender equality. Containing original empirical studies, this book demonstrates the past and present challenges women face to entering the judiciary and progressing their career, as well as when and why they advocate for women's issues while on the bench. From stories of pioneering women to sector-wide institutional studies of the gender composition of the judiciary, this book reflects on the feminisation of the judiciary in the Asia-Pacific.
2021
Women in the judiciary in the Asia-Pacific are understudied. Building on the comparative literature on women in the judiciary, this chapter considers the extent to which we can identify the feminisation of the judiciary in the Asia-Pacific, past and present. We question the meaning of the feminisation of the judiciary across the Asia-Pacific, and how gains have been made on issues of entry into the profession and the more substantive issue of the difference women judges can make. An example of the increase in women judges and advocacy for women’s issues in the profession is the formation and growth of women’s bar associations and women’s judicial associations. We identify that some jurisdictions, such as Indonesia, had female appointments to the highest court well-before some jurisdictions of the Global North. But overall, there are still many ‘firsts’ in terms of women’s entry and career progression into various tiers of the judicial profession. We argue that the extent to which we can speak of the feminisation of the judiciary in the Asia-Pacific relates to the wider issues of recognition, equality and non-discrimination for women in society more broadly. The judiciary in the Asia-Pacific, as in much of the Global South, is influenced by religious, traditional and customary values and practises, as well as postcolonial realities of corruption, inequality and violence.
Book Review: Asian Courts in Context
Social Science Research Network, 2015
The Asian Continent encompasses circa 50 autonomous states and comprises the central and eastern portions of the Eurasian landmass, the world's largest. Taken as a whole, the continent's rich cultural, intellectual and political histories extend over tens of centuries, highlighted by the powerful Mongol Empire, the imperial dynasties of China, and the majestic Persian empires, among others. In the 19 th and early 20 th Centuries, key Asian states were invaded and conquered, then colonized. In the latter half of the 20 th and early 21 st Centuries, those states have largely reasserted their autonomy, and the more proactive and ambitious among them reversed their economic and political malaise to emerge as powerhouses on the global stage. A key component of the institutional framework of these emerging states is the alliance of legal mechanisms and authorities that define, interpret, and apply the laws and administer justice. Within those alliances, two of the core elements are (i) the legislative power of government that formulates the positive laws of the state, and (ii) the judicial power that interprets and applies those laws and administers justice.
An Alternative Path to Rule of Law? Thailand's Twenty-First Century Administrative Courts
Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, 2019
INTRODUCTION-NEW COURTS IN ASIA New courts in Asia's rapidly developing states offer an opportunity to understand how a court system takes root in a society. This article presents a case study of the development of administrative court structure, functions, and practice in Thailand: Southeast Asia's newest system of administrative courts. Thailand's new courts are not an isolated example. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Asia and elsewhere, colonial rulers and traditional elites adapted European or American judicial institutions and practices as a means to centralize and secure their power. 1 Late twentieth century pressures experienced by many developing states to expand the flexibility of private markets and empower civil society have demanded further adaptations of state structure and authority. 2 In response to these pressures, judicialization-the expansion of judicial authority at the expense of other institutions of governance-has become a nearly universal feature of transitions from traditional to modern states in the 1.
An East Asian Conception of Law & Justice
The conception of law and justice, and the procedures that follow to exercise justice in a given society is an insightful depiction of the society’s most valued ideals. The Western conception of justice is arguably most closely linked, if not defined, by the administration of the law. The Rule of Law is a foundational principle in the judicial and legislative system of the West, in which it claims that “law should govern” and that every citizen is “subject to the law”. This approach of assigning such authority to the law with the goals of protecting democracy and individual rights, is not universal. Despite having received its own sets of criticisms, the Western conception of law and justice has been the most predominantly held and supported view in the world of developed countries and international organizations. As international law and the promotion of international human rights has been moving towards to the forefront of the agendas of such groups, however, the need to understand the East Asian conception of law and justice has become critical.