J. Yam, “Judging Under Authoritarianism.” Mod Law Rev., vol. 87, no.4 (2024): 894-925. Summary: Authoritarianism has significant implications for how judges should discharge their duties. How should judges committed to constitutionalism conduct themselves when under authoritarian pressure? To answer this question, the article proposes a two-step adjudicative framework, documents a variety of judicial strategies, and …
Alexei Trochev & Peter Solomon, “Authoritarian constitutionalism in Putin’s Russia: A pragmatic constitutional court in a dual state.” Communist and Post-Communist Studies, vol 51, no 3 (2018): 201-214. Summary: This article analyzes the successful adaptation of the Russian Constitutional Court (RCC) to an increasingly authoritarian regime under President Vladimir Putin. It argues that the key to …
Ying Sun and Hualing Fu, “Of Judge Quota and Judicial Autonomy: An Enduring Professionalization Project in China.” The China Quarterly, vol. 251 (2022): 866–87. Summary: This article presents the findings of original research on “judge quota” reform. The reform’s agenda was essentially aimed at professionalization: by edging out a given percentage of judges, only the better …
V. V. Ramraj & A. K Thiruvengadam, Emergency Powers in Asia: Exploring the Limits of Legality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Summary: What is the relevance of contemporary debates over emergency powers for countries situated in Asia? What role does, and should, the constitution play in constraining these powers? The essays in this collection address these …
Kwai Ng, Hang, and Xin He, Embedded Courts: Judicial Decision-Making in China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017. Summary: Embedded Courts is laden with tension. Chinese courts are organized as a singular and unified system yet grassroots courts in urban and rural regions differ greatly in the way they use the law and are as diverse …
Mark Fathi Massoud, “International Arbitration and Judicial Politics in Authoritarian States.” Law & Social Inquiry, vol. 39, no. 1 (2014): 1–30 Summary: This article uses the case of Sudan to show how authoritarian regimes benefit from embracing international arbitration, allowing them to maintain domestic control and attract foreign investment. International arbitration ensures that foreign-investment disputes …
Benjamin L Liebman, “China’s Courts: Restricted Reform.” The China Quarterly, no. 191 (2007): 620–38. Summary: Recent developments in China’s courts reflect a paradox largely avoided in literature on the subject: Can China’s courts play an effective role in a non-democratic governmental system? Changes to courts’ formal authority have been limited, courts still struggle to address basic …
Liebman, Benjamin L. “A Populist Threat to China’s Courts?,” in Chinese Justice: Civil Dispute Resolution in Contemporary China. Edited by Margaret Y. K. Woo & Mary E. Gallagher, pp. 269-313. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2011). Summary: Is the Chinese party-state too responsive to public opinion? In the case of the courts, this may be the …
In a major legal rebuke, a fourth federal judge has struck down a Trump executive order targeting the elite law firm Susman Godfrey. The ruling, issued by U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan, deemed the order “unconstitutional from beginning to end,” echoing prior decisions that permanently blocked similar actions against Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, and …
Alexandra Huneeus, Javier Couso, and Rachel Sieder. “Cultures of Legality: Judicialization and Political Activism in Contemporary Latin America,” In Cultures of Legality: Judicialization and Political Activism in Latin America. Edited by Javier Couso, Alexandra Huneeus, and Rachel Sieder, pp. 3–22. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Summary: Legal practices and ideas about law are undergoing dramatic change …