Justice Alfred Mavedzenge, “The Price They Pay for Their Independence: Understanding the Persecution of Judges in Africa as Retribution for their Impartiality.” Southern African Public Law, vol. 40, no. 1 (2025): 1-28. Summary: Various recent research …
Judges as Targets of Democratic Decline
Sadurski (2025), “Judicial Review Versus Populist Authoritarianism.”
Wojciech Sadurski, “Judicial Review Versus Populist Authoritarianism.” Comparative Political Studies, vol. 3, no. 1 (2025): 81-105. Summary: Populist authoritarianism is a common form of democratic backsliding these days. Can courts do anything to prevent or …
Dias (2025), “Rule by Law in Democratic Regimes: How Legal Actors Undermined Democracy in Brazil.”
Vitor Martins Dias, “Rule by Law in Democratic Regimes: How Legal Actors Undermined Democracy in Brazil.” March 19, 2025. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5185132 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5185132 Summary: This article analyzes how prosecutors, judges, and police officers coordinated …
Edmore (2025): “Self Inflicted Wounds: Financial Crime and Judicial System in a Semi-Authoritarian Zimbabwe.”
Munjeyi Edmore, “Self Inflicted Wounds: Financial Crime and Judicial System in a Semi-Authoritarian Zimbabwe.” Journal of Economic Criminology, Vol. 9, no. 1 (2025): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconc.2025.100173 Summary: There is a wealth of literature that describes and theorizes …
Crouch (2023), “Judicial Loyalty to the Military in Authoritarian Regimes: How the Courts Are Militarized in Myanmar.”
Melissa Crouch, “Judicial Loyalty to the Military in Authoritarian Regimes: How the Courts Are Militarized in Myanmar.” Law & Social Inquiry, vol. 48, no. 2 (2023): 632–59. Summary: While scholars have considered the role of …
Landau, Dixon (2020), “Abusive Judicial Review: Courts Against Democracy.”
David Landau and Rosalind Dixon, “Abusive Judicial Review: Courts Against Democracy.” UC Davis Law Review, vol. 53, no. 3 (2020): 1313-1387. Summary: Both in the United States and around the world, courts are generally conceptualized …
Liu, Su, Su, Wang (2024), “The Law or the Career? Autocratic Judiciaries, Strategic Sentencing, and Political Repression.”
Howard Liu., Su, Ching-Hsuan Su., & Yi-Ting Wang, “The Law or the Career? Autocratic Judiciaries, Strategic Sentencing, and Political Repression.” Comparative Political Studies, https://doi.org/10.1177/00104140241290212, (2024) Summary: Why do judges sometimes act against autocrats’ will, even …
Graver (2018), “Judicial Independence Under Authoritarian Rule: An Institutional Approach to the Legal Tradition of the West.”
Hans Petter Graver, “Judicial Independence Under Authoritarian Rule: An Institutional Approach to the Legal Tradition of the West.” Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, vol. 10, no. 2 (2018): 317-339. Summary: The autonomy of …
Fombad (2024), “The Judiciaries of Africa at a Crossroads: Can they Counter the Wave of Authoritarian Resurgence?”
Charles Fombad. “The Judiciaries of Africa at a Crossroads: Can they Counter the Wave of Authoritarian Resurgence?”, In Judicial Independence in Transitional Democracies. Edited by Nauman Reayat, Rhona K. M. Smith, Moohyung Cho, pp. 12-37. …
Massoud (2020), “The Rule of Law in Fragile States: Dictatorship, Collapse, and the Politics of Religion in Post-Colonial Somalia.”
Mark Fathi Massoud, “The Rule of Law in Fragile States: Dictatorship, Collapse, and the Politics of Religion in Post-Colonial Somalia.” Journal of Law and Society, vol. 47, no. 1 (2020): 111-125. Summary: The fate of …