Constitutionalism and Legal Change in Myanmar

Myanmar''s Constitution of 2008 was the ''road map'' for the reform process that began in 2011. Despite extensive criticism of this Constitution for its emphasis on the role of the military, much progress has been made towards constitutional government and law reform. With the election of the opposition NLD to government in the general election of November 2015 and the presidential electoral college election of March 2016,now is the time to consider the Constitution, and prospects and needs for constitutional change as Myanmar moves towards democracy and the rule of law.Much has been made of the Constitution''s rigidity, which is seen as an obstacle to reform and inconsistent with embracing the rule of law, human rights and multi-party democracy, especially with a rapidly transforming state and society. Nonetheless, the Constitution is also seen as having potential to be a very positive force for reform.Many issues arise now for constitutionalism and constitutional change: presidency; federalism and territorial governance; the status of minorities and freedom of religion; civil liberties in what is described as a ''discipline-flourishing democracy''; the courts, justice and the rule of law; the electoral system; and many more. This book is an attempt to gauge the extent and potential for the entrenchment of constitutionalism in Myanmar in a rapidly changing environment.>

List of contents

1. Seeking Constitutional Settlement in Myanmar
Janelle Saffin
2. Rule of Law Concepts in Burma’s Constitutions and Actual Practice: No Ground for Optimism
Myint Zan
3. A Second Panglong Agreement: Burmese Federalism for the Twenty-first Century
David C Williams
4. Irresistible Forces and Immovable Objects: Constitutional Change in Myanmar
Andrew Harding
5. The 2008 Constitution: The Evolution of Leadership
Priscilla Clapp
6. Contesting the Rules: Myanmar’s 2015 Election and Electoral Integrity
Bridget Welsh
7. Achieving ‘Genuine Federalism’? Myanmar’s Inexorable Path Towards Constitutional Devolution and
Decentralised Governance
Marcus Brand
8. The Everyday Emergency: Between the Constitution and the Code of Criminal Procedure in Myanmar
Melissa Crouch
9. How the Constitutional Tribunal’s Jurisprudence Sparked a Crisis
Dominic Jerry Nardi, Jr
10. Judicial Power and the Constitutional Tribunal: Some Suggestions for Better Legislation Relating to
the Tribunal and its Role
Khin Khin Oo
11. Human Rights under the New Regime
Catherine Renshaw
12. The Legal Profession and the Substantive Rule of Law in Myanmar
Janelle Saffin and Nathan Willis

About the author

Andrew Harding is Visiting Research Professor at the National University of Singapore, Professor of Law at the University of Reading Malaysia, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford. He is a founding editor of the Hart Publishing book series, Constitutional Systems of World.Khin Khin Oo is an Associate Professor at the Department of Law, University of Yangon (Myanmar), and received her LLB (1993), LLM (1997), and PhD in Law (2005) degrees from University of Yangon. Her area of specialization is in criminal law, civil law, family law and constitutional law. She has been a Visiting Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore, an ISEF fellow at Seoul National University and a visiting scholar at the Central European University Department of Legal Studies.

Summary

Myanmar’s Constitution of 2008 was the ‘road map’ for the reform process that began in 2011. Despite extensive criticism of this Constitution for its emphasis on the role of the military, much progress has been made towards constitutional government and law reform. With the election of the opposition NLD to government in the general election of November 2015 and the presidential electoral college election of March 2016,now is the time to consider the Constitution, and prospects and needs for constitutional change as Myanmar moves towards democracy and the rule of law.
Much has been made of the Constitution’s rigidity, which is seen as an obstacle to reform and inconsistent with embracing the rule of law, human rights and multi-party democracy, especially with a rapidly transforming state and society. Nonetheless, the Constitution is also seen as having potential to be a very positive force for reform.
Many issues arise now for constitutionalism and constitutional change: presidency; federalism and territorial governance; the status of minorities and freedom of religion; civil liberties in what is described as a ‘discipline-flourishing democracy’; the courts, justice and the rule of law; the electoral system; and many more. This book is an attempt to gauge the extent and potential for the entrenchment of constitutionalism in Myanmar in a rapidly changing environment.

Foreword

An attempt to gauge the extent and potential for the entrenchment of constitutionalism in Myanmar in a rapidly changing environment.

Additional text

[T]he book makes an important contribution to the English-language scholarship on Myanmar’s Constitution and questions of constitutionalism… Despite the book being written in the “constitutional moment” before elections in 2015 it is relevant today and will remain so as long as there is continued demand for constitutional amendment, federalism, and a peace agreement, under a framework that values universal rights and justice.

Product details

• Authors: Andrew Harding, Andrew Oo Harding, Khin Khin Oo
• Assisted by: Andrew Harding (Editor), Andrew (National University of Singapore) Harding (Editor), Khin Khin Oo (Editor), Oo Khin Khin (Editor)
• Publisher: Hart Publishing
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.05.2019
• EAN: 9781509929771
• ISBN: 978-1-5099-2977-1
• No. of pages: 312
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Law > Public law, administrative procedural law, constitutional procedural law; Myanmar, LAW / Constitutional, Myanmar (Burma), Constitutional & administrative law, Constitutional and administrative law: general