• Foreword
• Asia-Pacific judiciaries : themes and contemporary perspectives / H. P. Lee and Marilyn Pittard
• Independence and accountability of the judiciary : comparative analysis of the theories and the realities with lessons for the Asia-Pacific / Shimon Shetreet
• The judiciary of Bangladesh : its independence and accountability / M. Rafiqul Islam
• Judicial independence, impartiality and integrity in Brunei Darussalam / Ann Black
• The future of judicial independence in China / Lin Feng
• The judiciary in Fiji : a broken reed? / Venkat Iyer
• Hong Kong's judiciary under 'one country, two systems' / Albert H. Y. Chen and P. Y. Lo
• Judicial independence and the rise of the Supreme Court in India / Rehan Abeyratne
• The Indonesian courts : from non-independence to independence without accountability / Nadirsyah Hosen
• Indepedence of the judiciary and securing public trust in Japan / Shigenori Matsui
• The Malaysian judiciary : a Sisyphean quest for redemption? / H. P. Lee and Richard Foo
• Judicial power in Myannmar and the challenge of judicial independence / Melissa Crouch
• The Singapore judiciary : independence, impartiality and integrity / Kevin Y. L. Tan
• Decline and fall of Sri Lanka's judiciary and prospects for resurrection / Suri Ratnapala
• Institutional independence of the judiciary : Taiwan's incomplete reform / Wen-Chen Chang
• The Vanuatu judiciary : a critical check on executive power / Miranda Forsyth
• Independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary in Vietnam / Pip Nicholson and Nguyen Hung Quang
• The challenges of judicial independence in the Asia-Pacific / H. P. Lee and Marilyn Pittard.

Judicial independence, integrity and impartiality are crucial to public trust in the judiciary. Justice must also be seen to be dispensed fairly and without fear or favour. In the context of themes and perspectives as well as comparative theories of independence, this book provides a contemporary analysis of the role and independence of judges in 15 countries in the Asia-Pacific. Expert analyses include countries that are governed by authoritarian governments or are beset by dramatic government changes, which undermine judges by attacking and preventing their independence, to more democratic countries where there are strides towards judicial independence. The problems confronting judges and courts are explained and analysed, with the aim of establishing a commonality of standards which can be developed to strengthen and promote the important values of judicial independence, impartiality and integrity. Solutions for the Asia-Pacific region are also proposed.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Foreword
• Introduction
• Supreme Court of Singapore and the promise of enforceable constitutional conventions
• Malaysian courts and electoral fraud
• Hong Kong courts and constitutional contradictions
• Supreme Court of India and criminality in politics
• The Constitutional Court of Taiwan and calibrated judicial review
• The Constitutional Court of Korea and systemic electoral barriers
• The Constitutional Court of Thailand and partisan judges
• The Supreme Court of Pakistan : accommodation and defiance of military authority
• The Supreme Court of Bangladesh and defensive judicial review
• Democratic values and the conundrum of unconstitutional constitutional amendments
• Conclusion.

What is the relationship between the strength of a country's democracy and the ability of its courts to address deficiencies in the electoral process? Drawing a distinction between democracies that can be characterised as 'dominant-party' (for example Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong), 'dynamic' (for example India, South Korea, and Taiwan), and 'fragile' (for example Thailand, Pakistan , and Bangladesh), this book explores how democracy sustains and is sustained by the exercise of judicial power. In dominant-party systems, courts can only pursue 'dialogic' pathways to constrain the government's authoritarian tendencies. On the other hand, in dynamic democracies, courts can more successfully innovate and make systemic changes to the electoral system. Finally, in fragile democracies, where a country regularly oscillates between martial law and civilian rule, their courts tend to consistently overreach, and this often facilitates or precipitates a hostile take-over by the armed forces, and lead to the demise of the rule of law.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• The judicialization of politics in Asia : towards a framework of analysis / Björn Dressel
• The judicialization of Japanese politics? / Tom Ginsburg and Tokujin Matsudaira
• Causes and conditions for sustainable judicialization of politics in Korea / Jongcheol Kim and Jonghyun Park
• The judiciary, policy, and politics in India / Shylashri Shankar
• Thailand : judicialization of politics or politicization of the judiciary? / Björn Dressel
• Indonesia's Constitutional Court : conservative activist or strategic operator? / Simon Butt
• From judicialization to politicization of the judiciary : the Philippine case / Alejandro N. Ciencia
• The judicialization of politics in Pakistan / Charles Kennedy
• China's Supreme People's Court within the "political-legal system" / Shumei Hou and Ron Keith
• Cambodia's judiciary : heading for political judicialization? / Kheang Un and Sokbunthoeun So
• Malaysia : limited and intermittent judicialization of politics / Chandra Kanagasabai
• Leadership, law, and legitimacy : reflections on the changing nature of judicial politics in Asia / Haig Patapan.

Over the last two decades courts have become major players in the political landscape in Asia. This book assesses what is driving this apparent trend toward judicialization in the region. It looks at the variations within the judicialization trend, and how these variations affect political practice and policy outcomes. The book goes on to examine how this new trend is affecting aspects of the rule of law, democratic governance and state-society relations. It investigates how the experiences in Asia add to the debate on the judicialization of politics globally; in particular how judicial behaviour in Asia differs from that in the West, and the implications of the differences on the theoretical debate.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)