Opposing the Rule of Law
How Myanmar's Courts Make Law and Order
Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Law, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, History
| Author: | Nick Cheesman | ISBN: | 9781316235164 |
| Publisher: | Cambridge University Press | Publication: | March 12, 2015 |
| Imprint: | Cambridge University Press | Language: | English |
| Author: | Nick Cheesman |
| ISBN: | 9781316235164 |
| Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
| Publication: | March 12, 2015 |
| Imprint: | Cambridge University Press |
| Language: | English |
The rule of law is a political ideal today endorsed and promoted worldwide. Or is it? In a significant contribution to the field, Nick Cheesman argues that Myanmar is a country in which the rule of law is 'lexically present but semantically absent'. Charting ideas and practices from British colonial rule through military dictatorship to the present day, Cheesman calls upon political and legal theory to explain how and why institutions animated by a concern for law and order oppose the rule of law. Empirically grounded in both Burmese and English sources, including criminal trial records and wide ranging official documents, Opposing the Rule of Law offers the first significant study of courts in contemporary Myanmar. It sheds new light on the politics of courts during dark times and sharply illuminates the tension between the demand for law and the imperatives of order.
The rule of law is a political ideal today endorsed and promoted worldwide. Or is it? In a significant contribution to the field, Nick Cheesman argues that Myanmar is a country in which the rule of law is 'lexically present but semantically absent'. Charting ideas and practices from British colonial rule through military dictatorship to the present day, Cheesman calls upon political and legal theory to explain how and why institutions animated by a concern for law and order oppose the rule of law. Empirically grounded in both Burmese and English sources, including criminal trial records and wide ranging official documents, Opposing the Rule of Law offers the first significant study of courts in contemporary Myanmar. It sheds new light on the politics of courts during dark times and sharply illuminates the tension between the demand for law and the imperatives of order.
