Kristina Eberbach “Human Rights Legal Education in Times of Transition: Perspectives and Practices of Law Instructors in Myanmar.” Human Rights Review, vol. 24, no. 4 (2023): 485-509.
This article presents a mixed-methods study of human rights education and training (HRET) among law educators in Myanmar during the country’s democratic transition, which was abruptly halted by the 2021 military coup. Focusing on law instructors’ evolving perspectives and pedagogical practices between 2015 and 2020, the study examines how legal educators navigated the opportunities and constraints of introducing human rights discourse into a legal system shaped by authoritarian legacies.
The findings reveal cautious yet meaningful efforts to integrate critical and practice-oriented human rights education, often hindered by rigid university policies, political sensitivities, and lack of institutional support. For attorneys in backsliding democracies, this study illustrates the vital, but fragile, role that legal educators play in cultivating rights consciousness within transitional legal systems. It also underscores how the institutionalization of human rights norms in legal education can serve both as a form of resistance and as a foundation for long-term democratic resilience.