Zoltán Szente, “Stepping Into the Same River Twice? Judicial Independence in Old and New Authoritarianism.” German Law Journal, vol. 22, no. 7 (2021): 1316–26. Summary: The study seeks to answer the question of whether there are similarities between the methods used to limit judicial independence in Hungary during the last phase of the communist regime, …
B.C. Smith, Judges and Democratization: Judicial Independence in New Democracies (2nd ed.). Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2022. Summary: This second edition examines judicial independence as an aspect of democratization based on the premise that democracy cannot be consolidated without the rule of law of which judicial independence is an indispensable part. It pays particular attention to the …
Anthony W Pereira. “Of Judges and Generals: Security Courts under Authoritarian Regimes in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile,” In Rule by Law: The Politics of Courts in Authoritarian Regimes. Edited by Tom Ginsburg and Tamir Moustafa, 23–57. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Summary: Few academic studies have taken the law and legal institutions under authoritarian regimes …
Ergun Özbudun, “Turkey’s Judiciary and the Drift Toward Competitive Authoritarianism.” The International Spectator, vol. 50, no. 2 (2015): 42–55. Summary: Turkey has always been considered an “illiberal democracy”, or in Freedom House’s terms, a “partly-free” country. In recent years, however, there has been a downward trend toward “competitive authoritarianism”. Such regimes are competitive in that opposition …
Emilio Peluso Neder Meyer, “Judges and Courts Destabilizing Constitutionalism: The Brazilian Judiciary Branch’s Political and Authoritarian Character.” German Law Journal, vol. 19, no. 4 (2018): 727–68. Summary: Contemporary democracies may confront several instances of exceptions that co-exist with constitutional institutions; they are never free from any risks. This Article relies on recent Brazilian judicial experiences …
Marie Seong-Hak Kim, “Travails of Judges: Courts and Constitutional Authoritarianism in South Korea.” The American Journal of Comparative Law, vol. 63, no. 3 (2015): 601–54. Summary: This study addresses the urgent need for enhanced external oversight of constitutional judges in Indonesia and South Korea, driven by increasing concerns over judicial integrity and accountability. Recent instances of …
Mahmoud Hamad. Judges and Generals in the Making of Modern Egypt: How Institutions Sustain and Undermine Authoritarian Regimes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Summary: Why do authoritarian regimes survive? How do dictators fail? What role do political institutions play in these two processes? Many of the answers to these questions can be traced to the same …
Hans Petter Graver, “Judging Without Impunity: On the Criminal Responsibility of Authoritarian Judges”. Bergen Journal of Criminal Law & Criminal Justice, vol. 4, no.1 (2016): 125-49. Summary: The purpose of this article is to examine how far, with due respect for the rule of law, criminal sanctions could be applied to judges for the exercise …
Björn Dressel and Cristina Regina Bonoan, “ Courts and Authoritarian Populism in Asia: Reflections from Indonesia and the Philippines.” Law & Policy, vol. 46, no. 3 (2024): 277–297. Summary: Authoritarian populism has been making a comeback in Asia, as illustrated in Southeast Asia’s most important presidential regimes: the Philippines and Indonesia. In the Philippines, President …
Tamir Moustafa, The Struggle for Constitutional Power: Law, Politics, and Economic Development in Egypt. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Summary: This book examines how judicial reform can both support and destabilize authoritarian regimes, using Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court as a case study. It investigates the paradox of a regime that created a relatively independent court to …