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 …
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 …
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 …
Hualing Fu, “Building Judicial Integrity in China.” Hastings Int’l & Comp. L. Rev, vol. 39, no. 1 (2016): 167-181. Summary: Since the late 1970s, the Chinese judiciary has undergone a continuous reform process of professionalization and institutionalization. Despite the political constraints, there are sufficient opportunities and incentives to continue China’s judicial reform so as to enhance …
Tom Ginsburg. “Administrative Law and the Judicial Control of Agents in Authoritarian Regimes,” in The Politics of Courts in Authoritarian Regimes. Edited by Tom Ginsburg and Tamir Moustafa, pp. 58-72. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Summary: One reason that dictators empower courts is to monitor and discipline lower-level administrative agents. This chapter applies a version of …
Rachel E Bowen, “Judicial Autonomy in Central America: A Typological Approach.” Political Research Quarterly, vol. 66, no. 4 (2013): 831–42. Summary: Judicial autonomy from societal actors is argued herein to be a critical aspect of the rule of law and to have been overlooked by the dominance within comparative judicial politics of the role of interbranch …