Dr Sarah Bishop completed her Doctor of Philosophy, Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Asian Studies degrees at the Australian National University. Her research focuses on Thai law and draws on deep engagement with Thai language sources to provide nuanced accounts of engagements with and the development of the law. Her doctoral thesis explored uses of constitutional rights made before Thai courts by advantaged social groups under the 1997, 2006 and 2007 Thai constitutions. She has also previously published on the political role of the Thai courts in the post-1997 period, Thai constitutional change, opportunities for women in the Thai judiciary, and the work of Thai public interest lawyers. At CALS, her research will continue the exploration of Thai constitutional rights and will explore the history of recognition of constitutional rights, their resilience to change, and impacts that they have had in Thai society including ways they have challenged traditional power structures.
Selected Publications
Sarah Bishop, ‘Constitutional Bricolage: Thailand’s Sacred Monarchy vs The Rule of Law: by Eugénie Mérieau, Hart Publishing, 2022,’ (2023) Asian Studies Review 47(4), 858–859.
Sarah Bishop, ‘Women in the Thai Judiciary: Obstacles and Challenges’ in Melissa Crouch (ed), Women and the Judiciary in the Asia-Pacific (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022), 109–148.
Sarah Bishop, ‘Challenging the Judicial Coup Myth: Thai Constitutional Courts and Political Crises’ in Pavin Chachavalpongpun (ed), Coup, King, Crisis: A Critical Interregnum in Thailand (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Southeast Asia Studies, 2020), 199–224.
Sarah Bishop and Mark Nolan, ‘The Criminal Justice Process of Thailand’ in Jane Goodman-Delahunty and Dilip K Das (eds), Trends in Legal Advocacy: Interviews with Prosecutors and Criminal Defence Lawyers Across the Globe (Volume 1, Boca Raton: CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group, 2017), 257–263.
Sarah Bishop and Mark Nolan, ‘Yaowalak Anuphan, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, Bangkok’ in Jane Goodman-Delahunty and Dilip K Das (eds), Trends in Legal Advocacy: Interviews with Prosecutors and Criminal Defence Lawyers Across the Globe (Volume 1, Boca Raton: CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group, 2017), 264–283.
Research Project
Thai Constitutional Rights: Contestation, Resilience and Impact
In the literature the dominant portrayal of Thai constitutions has been that, due to their short lifespans, they have had little significance or have had significance only for the short term power gains they have facilitated. The objective of my project is, in contrast, to show Thai constitutions to have played an important role in challenging traditional norms and power structures, and to have done so even as effort has been made to limit that role. It will do this by focusing on the rights provisions of the constitutions, and by showing the inclusion of these provisions to have been driven by efforts to change norms and power structures; showing the provisions to have been resistant to change; and showing the provisions to have been actively used to challenge and change norms and power structures. By providing this alternate portrayal, it is hoped it will encourage greater scrutiny of engagements with Thai constitutions, and greater support for those who seek to use constitutions to further progressive agendas in Thailand.
