Mish Khan and Nick Cheesman. “Law, Lawyers and Legal Institutions.” In Myanmar: Politics, Economy and Society, Eds, Adam Simpson and Nicholas Farrelly, pp. 44-58. Oxfordshire, U.K.: Routledge, 2023.
This chapter traces the historical trajectory of law and lawyering in Myanmar, from the colonial era through military rule to the fragile democratic transition of the 2010s. Despite a growing public demand for law as a remedy to longstanding arbitrariness and state violence, legal institutions remain deeply constrained by authoritarian legacies and entrenched power structures. The chapter explores how these limitations shape both the expectations and the actual roles of legal professionals.
By situating current legal conditions within a broader historical context, the chapter reveals the structural barriers attorneys face in responding to demands for justice and accountability. While lawyers are often looked to as agents of legal transformation, the analysis suggests that without deeper institutional reform, efforts to revive the rule of law will fall short of public hopes. For attorneys in backsliding democracies, the chapter offers a sobering reflection on the limits of legalism and the complex relationship between law, legitimacy, and power.