1st Edition

Judicial Review of Elections in Asia

Edited By Po Jen Yap Copyright 2016
    238 Pages
    by Routledge

    250 Pages
    by Routledge

    In the past century, Asian nations have experienced a wave of democratisation as countries in the region have gained independence or transitioned from authoritarian military rule towards more participatory politics. At the same time, there has been an expansion of judicial power in Asia, whereby new courts or empowered old ones emerge as independent constraints on governmental authority.

    This is the first book to assess the judicial review of elections in Asia. It provides important insights into how Asian courts can strategically engage with the political actors in their jurisdictions and contribute to a country’s democratic discourse. Each chapter in the book sheds light on the judicial review of elections and the electoral process in a specific Asian jurisdiction, including Common Law Asia, namely Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, and Singapore, as well as jurisdictions in Civil Law Asia, namely Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. It fills a gap in the literature by addressing a central challenge to democratic governance, namely the problem of partisan self-dealing in the electoral processes.

    By exploring the constantly evolving role of the courts in addressing pivotal constitutional questions, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Asian Law, Governance and Politics.

    Introduction

    1. Courts and Elections in Asia
    2. Po Jen Yap

      Part I: Common Law Asia

    3. Judicial Review of Elections in Hong Kong: Resolving a Contradiction
    4. Simon N. M. Young

    5. Democracy and Elections in India: Reviewing the Role of the Election Commission and the Courts
    6. Surya Deva

    7. Judicial Review of Elections in Malaysia
    8. Kevin YL Tan

    9. ‘Election Disputes’ or Disputed Elections? Judicial (Non-)Review of the Electoral Process in Pakistan
    10. Moeen H. Cheema

    11. Judicial Review of the Electoral Process in Singapore after Vellama
    12. Po Jen Yap

      Part II: Civil Law Asia

    13. The Curious Case of Quasi-Weak-Form Review: Judicial Review of Electoral Process in Indonesia
    14. Stefanus Hendrianto

    15. Election Campaign Regulation and the Supreme Court of Japan
    16. Shigenori Matsui

    17. The Electoral Process and the Judicial Review of Elections in the Republic of Korea
    18. Woo-Young Rhee

    19. Judicial Strategies to Resolving Presidential Election Disputes: The Case of Taiwan
    20. Wen-Chen Chang and Yi-Li Lee

    21. Thailand: An Abuse of Judicial Review
    22. Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang

      Part III: Comparative Perspectives

    23. Courts, Judicial Review and the Electoral Process in Australia: An Antipodean Perspective
    24. Sarah Murray

    25. Judicial Review of the Electoral Process in Canada
    26. Yasmin Dawood

    27. Regulation by Charter: Judicial Review of Elections in South Africa

    Kareem Crayton

    Biography

    Po Jen Yap is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong

    This book is very timely and provides a comparative take on judicial review in relation to elections in nine Asian jurisdictions whose constitutional systems are based on common law or civil law principles.

    Yap Po Jen is highly qualified to undertake the task of bringing relevant scholars together to discuss the relevant issues in a comparative frame of reference. He has done so superbly and this book is to be highly recommended."

    Andrew Harding

    Professor of Law & Director of Centre for Asian Legal Studies

    National University of Singapore

     

     

     

    Professor Po Jen Yap has assembled a formidable group of legal thinkers from Asia, joined them with their counterparts from Canada, Australia, and South Africa, and produced a unique and provocative collection of essays on an under-studied area of public law, the law governing the elections process. This collection of essays invites us to think afresh about the role of courts and, in some instances, election commissions—and the legal and political constraints they face—in supervising the integrity of the elections process. The collection manages both to focus in on the nuances of particular jurisdictions and to pan out for a wide-angle view across the political spectrum from the politically fragile to the dominant-party to the vibrant, multi-party democracies of Asia.

    Victor V. Ramraj

    Professor of Law & Chair in Asia-Pacific Legal Relations

    University of Victoria, Canada

     

     

     

    The paradox of democracy is that its flourishing depends on judicial institutions that are insulated from politics. Yet until recently, there has been scant attention to the role of courts in making Asian democracies work. This book fills that void, offering fascinating perspectives from top-notch scholars on how courts have intervened in Asian elections, sometimes constructively and sometimes disastrously. It is essential reading for anyone who cares about democracy and wants to see it thrive, in Asia and across the globe.

    Daniel Tokaji

    Charles W. Ebersold and Florence Whitcomb Ebersold Professor of Constitutional Law

    The Ohio State University