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Glocalised constitution-making in the twenty-first century: Evidence from Asia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2019

MAARTJE DE VISSER Open the ORCID record for MAARTJE DE VISSER [Opens in a new window]  and
NGOC SON BUI
MAARTJE DE VISSER*
Affiliation:
School of Law, Singapore Management University, 55 Armenian Street, Singapore179943
NGOC SON BUI*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Law, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 6/F, Lee Shau Kee Building, Sha Tin, NT, Hong Kong
*
*Email: mdevisser@smu.edu.sg
†Email: ngocsonbui@cuhk.edu.hk
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Abstract:

How have Asian nations conducted, or how are they conducting, constitution-making in the face of pressures associated with globalisation, and how do they balance those forces with domestic interests and realities? This article aims to develop an analytical framework that can capture this global–local interplay. It introduces the concept of ‘glocalised constitution-making’ to denote the co-existence and relationship between the two governance levels as manifested in the forces, actors and norms pertaining to the process of drafting a new constitution as well as its substance. Glocalisation permeates the entirety of a constitution-making episode, from the impetus to initiate the process, to its design and inclusiveness of interests featured, and the scope of topics considered. The effects of glocalised constitution-making for domestic drafters are arranged along a continuum with approbation and aversion as the polar opposites. The precise location on the continuum will depend on the value preferences of the domestic stakeholders and the matters under consideration. The application of this analytical framework is illustrated with reference to recent constitution-making exercises in Bhutan, Nepal, Thailand, East Timor and Sri Lanka.

Keywords

Asiaglocalisedconstitution-makinghuman rightsinternational involvementpublic participation
Type
Articles
Information
Global Constitutionalism , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , July 2019 , pp. 297 - 331
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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86 Montesquieu envisaged a functionalist separation of government powers into legislative, executive and judicial power in his The Spirit of Laws (vol I, 1750). Discussions of its historical origins and present-day application can, amongst others, be found in S Krause, ‘The Spirit of Separate Powers in Montesquieu’ (2000) 62 Review of Politics 231; P Resnick, ‘Montesquieu Revisited, or the Mixed Constitution and the Separation of Powers in Canada’ (1987) 20 Canadian Journal of Political Science 97; JH Merryman, ‘The French Deviation’ (1996) 44 American Journal of Comparative Law 109. In contrast Taiwan’s constitution divides government powers among five branches or yuans: the legislative, executive, judicial, examination and control branch, on which e.g. E Ip, ‘Building Constitutional Democracy on Oriental Foundations: An Anatomy of San Yat-Sen’s Constitutionalism’ (2008) 9 Historia Constitucional 373. Notably the idea of distinct control institutions alongside the regular judiciary has begun to find traction more generally, see B Ackerman, ‘The New Separation of Powers’ (2000) 113 Harvard Law Review 633 and M Tushnet, ‘Fifth-Branch Institutions: South Africa’ in DS Law (ed), Constitutionalism in Context (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2019, forthcoming).

87 See generally, Z Elkins, T Ginsburg and B Simmons, ‘Getting to Rights: Treaty Ratification, Constitutional Convergence, and Human Rights Practice’ (2013) 54 Harvard International Law Journal 61.

88 Comprehensive Peace Accord between the Nepal Government and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (22 November 2006) preamble and see also points 3.4–3.9.

89 Including the right to equality (East Timor Constitution, section 16); special protection for seniors (section 20); access to the Ombudsman (section 27) and access to personal data (section 38).

90 Report of the Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights (n 83) 7.

91 Bhutan Constitution, art 3(1).

92 On which, see e.g. KN Jayatilleke, Dhamma Man and Law (Buddhist Research Society, Singapore, 1988).

93 Thailand Constitution 2017, Section 16.

94 H Phuyal, ‘Nepal’s New Constitution: 65 Years in the Making’ (The Diplomat 18 September 2015).

95 Nepal Constitution, arts 255, 261–263.

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97 See e.g. R Hirschl, ‘Out of “Global Constitutionalism”’ (2018) 12 Law & Ethics of Human Rights 1; S Choundry, ‘The Lochner Era and Comparative Constitutionalism’ (2004) 2 International Journal of Constitutional Law 1; C Saunders, ‘The Use and Misuse of Comparative Constitutional Law’ (The George P. Smith Lecture in International Law) (2006) 13 Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 37; K Lane Scheppele, ‘Aspirational and Aversive Constitutionalism: The Case for Studying Cross-Constitutional Influence through Negative Models’ (2003) 1 International Journal of Constitutional Law 296; Li-ann Thio, ‘Reception and Resistance: Globalisation, International Law and the Singapore Constitution’ (2009) 4 National Taiwan University Law Review 335.

98 Dixon and Posner (n 19) 1.

99 V Jackson, Constitutional Engagement in a Transnational Era (Oxford University Press, New York, NY, 2010). For an interesting extension of her framework that considers the impact of having non-national judges on the bench to adjudicate constitutional cases, see A Dziedzic, ‘Foreign Judges on Pacific Courts: Implications for a Reflective Judiciary’ (2018) Federalismi no 5.

100 The debate on the desirability of the consideration of foreign decisions in the course of domestic constitutional adjudication has spawned a large literature, including a discussions of the manner and extent to which such actually happens and the justifications that can be advanced in support, or against, the practice. See e.g. T Groppi and M-C Ponthoreau (eds), The Use of Foreign Precedents by Constitutional Judges (Hart, Oxford, 2014); Hirschl (n 4) Ch 1; N Dorsen, ‘The Relevance of Foreign Legal Materials in US Constitutional Cases: A Conversation between Justice Antonin Scalia and Justice Stephen Breyer’ (2005) 3 International Journal of Constitutional Law 519; G Halmai, ‘The Use of Foreign Law in Constitutional Interpretation’ in Rosenfeld and Sajó (n 36); M Bobek, Comparative Reasoning in European Supreme Courts (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2013) Chs 11 and 13.

101 Jackson (n 99) 71.

102 On occasion, membership of both groups may overlap, on which R Dixon, ‘Constitutional Design Two Ways: Constitutional Drafters as Judges’ (2017) 57 Virginia Journal of International Law 1.

103 Dixon and Posner (n 19) 19.

104 UN Secretary-General, Guidance Note of the Secretary-General: United Nations Assistance to Constitution-Making Processes (April 2009) <https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/files/Guidance_Note_United_Nations_Assistance_to_Constitution-making_Processes_FINAL.pdf> notably at 4 (‘Ensure national ownership’).

105 Contrast M Versteeg and E Zackin, ‘American Constitutional Exceptionalism Revisited’ (2014) 81 University of Chicago Law Review 1641, arguing that the US’ economic standing allows it to pursue a policy of isolationalism.

106 The Constitutional Assembly of Sri Lanka, ‘Report of the Sub-Committee on Centre-Periphery Relations’ <https://english.constitutionalassembly.lk/images/pdf/reports-2018/Subcommittee%20report%20on%20Centre-Periphery%20relations%20English%20final.pdf> 246; D Weerasekera, ‘The Interim Report of the Constitutional Steering Committee of Sri Lanka: A Brief Analysis, Part 2’ (Lankaweb, 9 April 2018) <https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2018/04/09/the-interim-report-of-the-constitutional-steering-committee-of-sri-lanka-a-brief-analysis-part-2/>.

107 Royal audience by His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck (22 September 2001), referenced in Tobgye (n 60) 6–7.

108 Tobgye (n 60) 17.

109 Ibid 16 (emphasis added).

110 It is probably also undesirable, given the risk of considerable dissonance between the constitutional text eventually adopted and preferred practice that in turn may negatively impact on the longevity of the new constitution.

111 Committee on Judicial System, ‘Preliminary report to the Constituent Assembly with Concept Paper’ (Kathmandu, 2009).

112 Quoted in H Phuyal, ‘The Constitutional Court Debate in Nepal: Where Are We Heading?’ in Karki and Edrisinha (n 63) 281.

113 Ibid 282–3.

114 Ibid 284 and see also AM Bhattarai, ‘Designing the System of Justice for Federal Nepal: Possible Contributions of Comparative Constitutional Law’ (2011) 5 NJA Law Journal 115.

115 The tendency to ensure representation of the various social, religious and other factions often translates into a body of constitutional framers that is heterogeneous in its world views. This makes it difficult for a single, unified view to emerge on how to structure the constitution-writing process and which constitutional arrangements to adopt, and by implication, how to appreciate the input that the global can provide on these matters.

116 Nepal Constitution, art 11(5) and (7).

117 Cf Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 989th and 990th meetings (WOM/1873, July 2011).

118 ‘Interview with Former Nepal Constituent Assembly Chair’ (2016) 5 The UN Constitutional 3.

119 J Elster, ‘Forces and Mechanisms in the Constitution-Making Process’ (1995) 45 Duke Law Journal 364, 394.