Description

Over one and half days, participants engaged in thought-provoking discussions enquiring into the range of factors and conditions that influence decisions by legislators to bring about constitutional change by formal amendments, as well as why some amendment initiatives fail. Country-experts presented constitutional amendment practices from eight Southeast Asian jurisdictions. Constitutional law experts on constitutional change (Kevin Tan (NUS), Yaniv Roznai (IDC), Cheryl Saunders (Melbourne University), and Rosalind Dixon (UNSW)) were also invited to comment on the papers and the project objectives. By focusing on Southeast Asian jurisdictions, this Workshop aimed to enrich existing constitutional law scholarship on formal amendment practices with thick accounts of heretofore under-examined jurisdictions. At the same time, it sought to interrogate existing theoretical accounts on constitutional change and amendments as well as their applicability to the region.