One of my fellow SAIS alums, Seth Kane, has written a fantastic piece in Asia Times on the current state of judicial politics in Thailand. It covers some of the same ground my (now obsolete) New Mandala articles on the judiciary and constitutional court, but with an insider’s perspective on the Thai political scene. Seth also provides a useful contrast to much of the commentary by pointing out instances in which the courts have not sided with the Yellow Shirts. I encourage readers to check it out here. Congrats Seth!
Thai Judicial Politics – from a SAIS alum
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Filed under judicial independence, Thailand, Thaksin
Updates from the region
A few interesting developments from the region:
Burma: An opposition candidate won a case against a candidate backed by the military regime! According to DVB, the Election Commission dismissed a complaint by a Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) candidate that his opponent, Sai Moon from the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), used armed groups to force people to vote for him. This is one of a handful of cases in which the courts have ruled against an elite figure. Even more interesting, according to the article other opposition candidates claim the Commission is handling such cases fairly. That’s certainly a rare bit of good news and hopefully a reason for hope that the country’s new judicial institutions will provide better services than they have since 1962.
Indonesia: No surprise that the latest news deals with corruption scandals. First, a while ago I blogged about the Gayus corruption case, in which a tax official bribed jailers to let him leave jail and vacation in, among other places, Bali. Now, the South Jakarta District Court has handed down a sentence. Seven years and a Rp. 300 million ($33,170) fine. However, according to The Jakarta Globe, many see this as too light a sentence for such flagrant abuses.
I have no basis upon which to judge these criticisms. I don’t know if the court was particularly lenient on Gayus or if any foul play was involved. Regardless, the outcry is a useful reminder of the distinction between justice in the abstract and the judicial process. It may well be that the masses demand a more stringent punishment than the system provides.
In another corruption case, judges visited the home of former National Police chief Susno Duadji to investigate claims that a broker visited the home in December 2008 to pay him Rp. 500 million ($55,000). This event is interesting from a comparative law standpoint. In civil law countries like Indonesia, judges can and often do take it upon themselves to investigate or confirm factual allegations by the parties. In common law systems, judges almost never leave the courtroom and rely solely upon the testimony of witnesses. Still, the article doesn’t explain how visiting a house will reveal what happened over two years ago.
Philippines: The war of words between the Aquino administration and the Supreme Court took another turn as Chief Justice Corona denounced a “propaganda war” against the Court’s recent judgements. According to PhilStar, the chief justice claimed, “There are people who went out of their way to disparage the decisions of the SC.” He particularly criticized those who attacked the judgments without actually reading them. Nonetheless, he was careful to clarify that the “propaganda war” attacked the judgments, not the justices themselves. Hopefully, everybody in the Philippines can keep that distinction in mind because it looks like the tensions between the court and presidency will remain for some time to come.
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Filed under Burma, corruption, elections, indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines
Updates from the Philippines
Two interesting stories came out today about the Philippine Supreme Court. First, a relative of those killed in the Vizconde 1991 claims Justice Antonio Carpio improperly lobbied his colleagues to acquit defendants Hubert Webb (and six others). Carpio, so the allegations state, is a close friend of the Webb family. However, the Supreme Court Spokesman Midas Marquez dismissed the allegations as lacking evidence. As the Decider once said, bring it on!
The more interesting question is whether these allegations will tarnish Carpio’s otherwise sterling reputation. According to Filipina journalist Marites Vitug’s Shadow of Doubt, the Supreme Court is no stranger to this type of nepotism and favoritism. Yet, Carpio also came across as one of the heros of the book. After being passed over for the chief justiceship last year (see my earlier article here), Carpio has become a leading voice within the dissenters – and as such often seen as the leader against the Court’s pro-Arroyo majority (I’m not claiming this is true, but I believe the perception exists). If there is any evidence Carpio lobbied on behalf of a man accused of mass murder, then that perception might change quickly.
The second story is an update on the continuing standoff between judges and Aquino administration over the judicial budget. Apparently, the Department of Justice made just enough promises to forestall a nationwide protest that had been planned for this Monday. The dispute had centered on salaries and pensions. Still, the very fact that the judges have had to protest and negotiate for a budget raise does not speak well to judicial independence in the Philippines. So far, I have not heard anything about the judges making any compromises to pacify the administration, but this could certainly become a risk now that the Aquino administration knows how much the salary cuts upset the judges.
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Filed under Philippines, Supreme Court
Updates from Burma
A few years ago, I wrote an op-ed discussing the African Union’s advances in protecting human rights on a regional level, and suggested ASEAN could learn from them. Did Aung San Suu Kyi read it? Probably not, but I found it interesting that she recently told a Philippine senator that ASEAN’s human rights involvement in Myanmar should be modeled on that of the A.U. She cited the A.U. in Cote d’Ivoire, which I hadn’t emphasized in my op-ed (at the time, SAARC and Zimbabwe seemed more relevant). Either way, I think she’s onto something in drawing the comparison to Africa rather than the E.U.
According to Democratic Voice of Burma, three men from Mon State who claim to have been tortured and arrested are petitioning the Supreme Court for their release. Of course, Burma’s Supreme Court doesn’t have a great track record on these types of cases. Still, the plaintiffs’ family members are taking an interesting approach. According to one:
“We are not looking to put the blame on anyone or to get compensation. As Buddhists, we just blame it on karma. We just want our loved one released from prison and the family of [San Shwe] be informed about his death so they can hold a funeral.
Basically, they seem to hope that they can at least get their loved ones released from prison if they promise not to threaten elite interests. It will be interesting to see if this approach works.
Unfortunately, the approach of several farmers in Kachin State seeking takings compensation did not work. Yuzana construction company initially offered the farmers approximately $100 per acre of land. The farmers sued, obviously hoping to obtain more compensation. Instead, the court awarded less – just $8 per acre. This is a valuable and tragic lesson in the unpredictable nature of law and legal institutions in Burma.
In other news, according to Irrawaddy, Rangoon’s government bookstore started selling books containing the new parliamentary laws and bylaws yesterday, but almost immediately ran out. Despite disillusionment with the November 7 elections, it seems people want to understand the political process.
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Filed under africa, asean, ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, Burma, human rights, Myanmar
Book Review: Capitalism and Law mix well
There have been quite a few edited volumes about law in Asia, but Law, Capitalism and Power in Asia: The Rule of Law and Legal Institutions (Asian Capitalism) still has some value, despite being over a decade old. It focuses on the intersection between law and commerce in Asia. Most of the essays focus on administrative law in a particular country, with a few articles comparing several countries in a particular issue, such as insolvency law. For those of us primarily interested in Southeast Asia, this book is particularly useful because over half the essays are just on that region.
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Filed under capitalism
Dominic J. Nardi, Jr. 
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