This book focuses on trend-setting judgments in different parts of the world that impacted on the rights of persons belonging to minorities and Indigenous people. The cases illustrate how the judiciary has been called upon to fill out the detail of minority protection arrangements and how, in doing so, in many instances the judiciary has taken the respective countries on a course that parliament may not have been able to navigate. In this book authors from various backgrounds in the practical application of minority protection arrangements investigate the role of the judiciary in constitutional arrangements aimed at the protection of the rights of minorities and Indigenous peoples.
Understanding and managing inter-religious relations, particularly between Muslims and Christians, presents a challenge for states around the world. This book investigates legal disputes between religious communities in the world’s largest majority-Muslim, democratic country, Indonesia. It considers how the interaction between state and religion has influenced relations between religious communities in the transition to democracy. The book presents original case studies based on empirical field research of court disputes in West Java, a majority-Muslim province with a history of radical Islam. These include criminal court cases, as well as cases of judicial review, relating to disputes concerning religious education, permits for religious buildings and the crime of blasphemy. The book argues that the democratic law reform process has been influenced by radical Islamists because of the politicization of religion under democracy and the persistence of fears of Christianization. It finds that disputes have been localized through the decentralization of power and exacerbated by the central government’s ambivalent attitude towards radical Islamists who disregard the rule of law. Examining the challenge facing governments to accommodate minorities and manage religious pluralism, the book furthers understanding of state-religion relations in the Muslim world. This accessible and engaging book is of interest to students and scholars of law and society in Southeast Asia, was well as Islam and the state, and the legal regulation of religious diversity.
ÔA fascinating collection of essays commenting on and developing FrankenbergÕs IKEA theory of legal transfer. With valuable theoretical analyses, comparative studies, attention to gender issues, post-colonial contexts, imposed law and legal history, this book is essential reading for anyone thinking about the circulation of legal models especially, but not only, in the area of constitutional law.Õ Ð David Nelken, University of Cardiff, UK ÔFrankenbergÕs work gives a new insight of what comparative law can be in the context of globalization, representing an outstanding achievement. His theory of ÒtransferÓ supersedes the metaphors of mainstream scholarship, displaying that constitutions are not mere ÒcommoditiesÓ or items to be assembled. The real matter is rather, which ÒmeaningsÓ are generated through transfer. In this way, beyond any usual flat version, we may perceive that any Òconstitutional relocationÓ exhibits a reappraisal of the whole world we live in.Õ Ð Pier Giueseppe Monateri, University of Turin, Italy Constitutional orders and legal regimes are established and changed through the importing and exporting of ideas and ideologies, norms, institutions and arguments. The contributions in this book discuss this assumption and address theoretical questions, methodological problems and political projects connected with the transfer of constitutions and law. Some of the chapters focus on the pathways, risks and side-effects of legal-constitutional transfers in specific situations, such as postcolonial societies and occupied territories. Others follow law beyond the official arenas into systems of legal pluralism, while others analyze how experimentalism generates hybrid constitutional orders. This interdisciplinary, multi-jurisdictional study will appeal to researchers, academics and advanced students in the fields of comparative constitutional law, comparative law and legal theory.
The more international law, taken as a global answer to global problems, intrudes into domestic legal systems, the more it takes on the role and function of domestic law. This raises a separation of powers question regarding law–making powers. This book considers that specific issue. In contrast to other studies on domestic courts applying international law, its constitutional orientation focuses on the presumptions concerning the distribution of state power. It collects and examines relevant decisions regarding treaties and customary international law from four leading legal systems, the US, the UK, France, and the Netherlands. Those decisions reveal that institutional and conceptual allegiances to constitutional structures render it difficult for courts to see their mandates and powers in terms other than exclusively national. Constitutionalism generates an inevitable dualism between international law and national law, one which cannot necessarily be overcome by express constitutional provisions accommodating international law. Valuable for academics and practitioners in the fields of international and constitutional law.
New technologies affect the legal system, but do they and should they also affect constitutional rights? These are questions that every country has to address, taking into account their constitutional system and legal tradition. This book surveys changes in constitutional rights and human-rights policy related to developments in ICT and new technologies in the USA, Canada, France, Germany, Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands. The seven country reports provide in-depth accounts of changes to the constitutional system (such as a constitutional review and the influence of international law), case law and (policy) developments with respect to freedom of expression, privacy, inviolability of the body, inviolability of the home and freedom of communication. The book is recommended to policy-makers, members of the judiciary, academics and practitioners, as it provides inspiration for diverging strategies to achieve continued protection for the widely-shared constitutional values of privacy and freedom of expression.
Constitutional Engagement in a Transnational Era explores how transnational phenomena affect our understanding of the role of constitutions and of courts in deciding constitutional cases. In it, Vicki Jackson looks at constitutional court decisions from around the world, and identifying postures of resistance, convergence or engagement with international and foreign law.
Indonesia is the world's third largest democracy and its courts are an important part of its democratic system of governance. Since the transition from authoritarian rule in 1998, a range of new specialised courts have been established from the Commercial Courts to the Constitutional Court and the Fisheries Court. In addition, constitutional and legal changes have affirmed the principle of judicial independence and accountability. The growth of Indonesia's economy means that the courts are facing greater demands to resolve an increasing number of disputes. This volume offers an analysis of the politics of court reform through a review of judicial change and legal culture in Indonesia. A key concern is whether the reforms that have taken place have addressed the issues of the decline in professionalism and increase in corruption. This volume will be a vital resource for scholars of law, political science, law and development, and law and society.
Indonesia has a growing population of almost 300 million people, it is increasingly involved in world affairs, and has a booming economy. The need to better understand its unique, complex, and often obscure legal system, has become pressing. This is true across a wide range of sectors including, but not limited to, trade and investment, crime and terrorism, and human rights. Indonesia's democratization after the fall of Soeharto in 1998 triggered massive social and political changes that opened up this diverse, and formerly tightly-controlled, society. Law reform was a key driver of Indonesia's transformation and its full effect remains to be seen. This book offers clear and detailed explanations of the foundations of Indonesia's legal system in the context of its legal reform and rapid development. It offers succinct commentaries on a wide range of issues, examining the judicial process, the constitution, corruption and the court system, contract law, administrative law, foreign investment, taxation, Islamic law, and family law. It examines current substantive law and judicial interpretation and presents case studies of how the system operates in practice. Written in an accessible and engaging style, this book is an essential guide for readers seeking quick and clear answers to questions regarding the law and its application in Indonesia.