Seeking Judicial Power: With a Special Focus on Burma's Judiciary

This paper discusses the underlying common concept of the rule of law as it bolsters courts, giving them their institutional status and enabling them to move toward a redesigned judiciary from diverse societal backgrounds. In addition, this paper will explore what those institutions should look like, distinguishing between two quite different judicial functions – judicial review and the ordinary administration of justice – as a comparative study of jurisdictions of some countries. Finally, with a special focus on Burma, it will suggest how to move toward good judicial institutions, what those institutions should look like, whether it is possible to achieve such institutions from the current status quo, and what judicial institutions that can come up in Burma. [Occasional Paper No. 20].