The panel explores contemporary instances in which constitutional law interacts with politics in leading jurisdictions in Southeast Asia. It adopts a dual take as to the meaning of politics. On the one hand, it showcases how courts and other institutions grapple with potentially explosive ‘high politics’ questions that go towards a polity’s self-understanding and the...
A Deafening Silence? Non-Judicial Dialogues in a Dominant-Party Democracy
The Singapore judiciary is not known for actively or robustly pushing the national constitutional discourse in a way that can be observed in highest courts in other matured jurisdictions. That is however not to say that the Constitution leads a dormant existence: on the contrary, its role and the meaning of its provisions are very...
Megapolitical Cases and the Constitutional Court of Indonesia: An Empirical Analysis (2003-2017)
Indonesia’s Constitutional Court is considered as one of Asia’s most activist courts. In this paper we investigate empirically the determinants of judicial behaviour at the Constitutional Court of Indonesia in the period 2003-2017. The paper draws on a unique data set of 80 high profile political cases complemented by data on the socio-biographic profiles of...
Politics and Political Footballs: Malaysian Monarchy in an Age of Consumerism
Over the last 15 years the Malaysian monarchies (constituting about a fifth of all extant monarchies globally) have re-established themselves not only reputationally but also as important elements in the Malaysian political system. This paper looks at what has been dubbed ‘Nazrinian’ monarchy and its Johor variant, ‘The Order’, and their impact on acute political...
The Politics of Judicial Engagement with Constitutional Amendments
Constitutional amendment is a common method by which political branches bring about constitutional change. Some of these amendments however may critically transform the existing constitutional arrangement to serve what Landau and Dixon have called “abusive“ constitutional aims. This paper examines recent judicial engagements with constitutional amendments in Singapore and Malaysia. In particular, it highlights the...