Judicial Review of Elections in Asia

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

2. Courts and Elections in Asia

3. Po Jen Yap

   Part I: Common Law Asia

4. Judicial Review of Elections in Hong Kong: Resolving a Contradiction

5. Simon N. M. Young

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

7. Surya Deva

8. Judicial Review of Elections in Malaysia

9. Kevin YL Tan

10. `Election Disputes' or Disputed Elections? Judicial (Non-)Review of the Electoral Process in Pakistan

11. Moeen H. Cheema

12. Judicial Review of the Electoral Process in Singapore after Vellama

13. Po Jen Yap

    Part II: Civil Law Asia

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

15. Stefanus Hendrianto

16. Election Campaign Regulation and the Supreme Court of Japan

17. Shigenori Matsui

18. The Electoral Process and the Judicial Review of Elections in the Republic of Korea

19. Woo-Young Rhee

20. Judicial Strategies to Resolving Presidential Election Disputes: The Case of Taiwan

21. Wen-Chen Chang and Yi-Li Lee

22. Thailand: An Abuse of Judicial Review

23. Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang

    Part III: Comparative Perspectives

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

25. Sarah Murray

26. Judicial Review of the Electoral Process in Canada

27. Yasmin Dawood

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

Kareem Crayton