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On The Uneven Journey To Constitutional Redemption: The Malaysian Judiciary And Constitutional Politics, Yvonne Tew
On The Uneven Journey To Constitutional Redemption: The Malaysian Judiciary And Constitutional Politics, Yvonne Tew
Washington International Law Journal
This article explores the Malaysian judiciary’s approach toward interpreting the Federal Constitution of Malaysia and situates it within the context of the nation’s political and constitutional history. It traces the judiciary’s movement toward a more rights-oriented approach followed by its more recent retreat, which has been marked by strict formalism and insularity in several appellate court decisions. This article argues that the Malaysian courts’ journey toward constitutional redemption has been uneven so far. In order to reclaim its constitutional position as a co-equal branch of government, the Malaysian judiciary must be willing to uphold its constitutional duty to assert its …
Constitutional Fig Leaves In Asia, Po Jen Yap
Constitutional Fig Leaves In Asia, Po Jen Yap
Washington International Law Journal
Constitutional landscapes in Asia are littered with fig leaves. These proverbial fig leaves are legal principles, doctrines, and theories of interpretation that judges appeal to when resolving constitutional disputes. This article uncovers and examines three constitutional fig leaves that are prevalent and flourishing in Asia: 1) formalism and its conceptual variants; 2) the exercise of judicial review that is merely symbolic; and 3) the invocation of vacuous constitutional doctrines. This article further argues that judicial recourse to fig leaves is not intended to deceive anyone about what courts are doing; the fig leaves are on public display merely to demonstrate …
The Rise And Fall Of Historic Chief Justices: Constitutional Politics And Judicial Leadership In Indonesia, Stefanus Hendrianto
The Rise And Fall Of Historic Chief Justices: Constitutional Politics And Judicial Leadership In Indonesia, Stefanus Hendrianto
Washington International Law Journal
In the decade following its inception, the Indonesian Constitutional Court has marked a new chapter in Indonesian legal history, one in which a judicial institution can challenge the executive and legislative branches. This article argues that judicial leadership is the main contributing factor explaining the emergence of judicial power in Indonesia. This article posits that the newly established Indonesian Constitutional Court needed a strong and skilled Chief Justice to build the institution because it had insufficient support from political actors. As the Court lacked a well-established tradition of judicial review, it needed a visionary leader who could maximize the structural …
Moving Towards A Nominal Constitutional Court? Critical Reflections On The Shift From Judicial Activism To Constitutional Irrelevance In Taiwan's Constitutional Politics, Ming-Sung Kuo
Washington International Law Journal
The Taiwan Constitutional Court (TCC, also known as the Council of Grand Justices) has been regarded as a central player in Taiwan’s transition to democracy in the late twentieth century. Transforming from a rubberstamp under the authoritarian regime into a facilitator of political dispute settlement, the TCC channelled volatile political forces into its jurisdiction. Thanks to the TCC’s judicial activism, the judicialization of constitutional politics was characteristic of Taiwan’s democratization in the last two decades of the twentieth century. The TCC scholarship asserts that the TCC has continued to play a pivotal role in Taiwan’s constitutional politics in the twenty-first …
The "Chaudhry Court": Deconstructing The "Judicialization Of Politics" In Pakistan, Moeen H. Cheema
The "Chaudhry Court": Deconstructing The "Judicialization Of Politics" In Pakistan, Moeen H. Cheema
Washington International Law Journal
The Supreme Court of Pakistan underwent a remarkable transformation in its institutional role and constitutional position during the tenure of the former Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry (2005–2013). This era in Pakistan’s judicial history was also marked by great controversy as the court faced charges that it had engaged in “judicial activism,” acted politically, and violated the constitutionally mandated separation of powers between institutions of the state. This article presents an in-depth analysis of the judicial review actions of the Chaudhry Court and argues that the charge of judicial activism is theoretically unsound and analytically obfuscating. The notion …
The Politics Of Constitutional Common Law In Hong Kong Under Chinese Sovereignty, Eric C. Ip
The Politics Of Constitutional Common Law In Hong Kong Under Chinese Sovereignty, Eric C. Ip
Washington International Law Journal
This article studies how the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal has come to develop a sophisticated judicial gloss on the provisions of the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s constitutional document, in ways unforeseen by the Chinese National People’s Congress that enacted it. The ascendancy of constitutional common law in Hong Kong after the end of British rule is remarkable when considered in light of the continuing denial of democratic self-rule by China’s authoritarian Party-state. This article argues that the profusion of political transaction costs due to the fragmentation of the ruling elite and state-society discord consequent to the resumption of …
The Once And Future Promise Of Access To Justice In Washington's Article I, Section 10, Debra Stephens
The Once And Future Promise Of Access To Justice In Washington's Article I, Section 10, Debra Stephens
Washington Law Review Online
This Essay is part of the Symposium on State Constitutional Law in Honor of the late Washington State Supreme Court Justice Robert F. Utter that was held on October 23, 2015.
Evaluating International State Constitutionalism, Johanna Kalb
Evaluating International State Constitutionalism, Johanna Kalb
Washington Law Review Online
This Essay is part of the Symposium on State Constitutional Law in Honor of the late Washington State Supreme Court Justice Robert F. Utter that was held on October 23, 2015.
"Does Oregon's Constitution Need A Due Process Clause?" Thoughts On Due Process And Other Limigations On State Action, Thomas A. Balmer
"Does Oregon's Constitution Need A Due Process Clause?" Thoughts On Due Process And Other Limigations On State Action, Thomas A. Balmer
Washington Law Review Online
During a legislative hearing last year, an Oregon state senator asked, “Does Oregon’s Constitution need a due process clause?” That question raises fundamental issues of constitutional law and of the relationship between the federal and state constitutions. Can and should state courts rely primarily on federal constitutional principles, made applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, in deciding critical questions about the rights of criminal defendants, freedom of speech and religion, and equal protection? Or should state courts focus on their own constitutions—state due process, equal privileges and immunities, and similar “great ordinances” or more specific …
Mccleary: Positive Rights, Separation Of Powers, And Taxpayer Protections In Washington's State Constitution, Kristen L. Fraser
Mccleary: Positive Rights, Separation Of Powers, And Taxpayer Protections In Washington's State Constitution, Kristen L. Fraser
Washington Law Review Online
No abstract provided.
Popular Constitutionalism And Its Enemies, G. Alan Tarr
Popular Constitutionalism And Its Enemies, G. Alan Tarr
Washington Law Review Online
This Essay is part of the Symposium on State Constitutional Law in Honor of the late Washington State Supreme Court Justice Robert F. Utter that was held on October 23, 2015.