This article investigates how political lawyers in Russia navigate and resist authoritarian tactics such as disinformation campaigns, government surveillance, and secrecy.
Evidence of Lawyers’ Resistance
O’Brien (2023), “Neither Withdrawal Nor Resistance: Adapting to Increased Repression in China”
In the face of growing repression in China, some lawyers, along with pastors and NGOs, are navigating authoritarian constraints not through resistance but through strategic accommodation.
Pavone (2020), “Lawyers, Judges, And The Obstinate State: The French Case And An Agenda For Comparative Politics”
This article revisits the classic thesis of France as an “obstinate state,” known for the resilience of its centralized authority, by showing how lawyers and judges have quietly shaped political development in ways that challenge this narrative.
Eberbach (2023), “Human Rights Legal Education in Times of Transition: Perspectives and Practices of Law Instructors in Myanmar”
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.
Khan and Cheesman (2023), “Law, Lawyers and Legal Institutions”
For attorneys in backsliding democracies, this chapter offers a sobering reflection on the limits of legalism and the complex relationship between law, legitimacy, and power.
Andreetta (2024), “A Broken Trust: Defence Lawyers and the Beninese State”
This article investigates how defense lawyers in Benin navigate a shifting political landscape marked by democratic backsliding and increasing judicial bias.
Rosenbaum, Hubbard, Sharp-Bauer, and Tushaus (2021), “The Myanmar Shwe: Empowering Law Students, Teachers, And The Community Through Clinical Education And The Rule Of Law”
This article explores the reform of legal education in Myanmar during a brief period of political opening, focusing on the role of clinical legal education (CLE) in empowering future lawyers under conditions of ongoing authoritarian legacy.
Mason and Cheesman (2023), “Land and Law Between Reform and Revolution”
This chapter explores how land law in Myanmar functions as a tool of governance, dispossession, and contestation, particularly during the semi-civilian government of the 2010s and in the wake of the 2021 military coup.
Chua (2022), The Politics of Rights and Southeast Asia
This book introduces the politics of rights as a socio-legal framework for understanding how rights are mobilized, contested, and reshaped in the culturally and politically complex region of Southeast Asia.
Kim (2023), “Reimagining the Lawyer’s Duty to Uphold the Rule of Law”
This article critiques the prevailing view within the legal profession that lawyers fulfill their duty to uphold the rule of law simply by complying with formal legality.