Law And Development In Asia

This book fills a gap in the literature by presenting a comprehensive overview of the key issues relating to law and development in Asia. Over recent decades, experts in law and development have produced multiple theories on law and development, none of which were derived from close study of Asian countries, and none of which fit very well with the existing evidence of how law actually functioned in these countries during periods of rapid economic development. The book discusses the different models of law and development, including both the developmental state model of the 1960s and the neo-liberal model of the 1980s, and shows how development has worked out in practice in relation to these models in a range of Asian countries, including Japan, Korea, China, Thailand, Singapore, India and Mongolia. Particular themes examined include constitutionalism, judicial and legal reform; labour law; the growing importance of private rights; foreign investment and the international law of development. Reflecting the complexity of Asian law and society, both those who believe in an "Asian Way" which is radically different from law and development in other parts of the world, as well as those who believe the arc of law and development is essentially universal, will find support in this book.

During the 1980s and 1990s Asian 'developmental states' attracted much attention in political science and economics literature, but the role of law in the economic development was neglected. It was only after the Asian crisis of 1997 that many analysts began to focus on a lack of regulation and transparency as a major factor triggering the crisis. The crucial questions now are how successful the current reforms will be, and which features of the Asian approach to commercial law will be resistant to reform pressures. This book examines the prospects for commercial law reform in Asia, giving particular attention to Japan and Singapore, as frequently cited role models for Asian developmentalism, and also examining development related business laws in countries such as China, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Through an in-depth legal analysis by leading scholars, this book searches for the exact legal causes of land-related disputes in Asia within the histories, legal systems and social realities of the respective countries. It consists of four main parts: examining the relationship between law and development; land-taking in developmental stages; common ownership; and proposals for new approaches to land law and dispute resolution. With a combination of orthodox legal interpretations and the empirical approach of legal sociology, the contributors undertake an extensive comparative legal analysis across common and civil law traditions. Most importantly, they propose pathways forward for legal transformations in the pursuit of sustainable development in Asia. This book is vital contribution to the study of comparative law, and especially property law, in East and Southeast Asia.

The massive and complex process of change in East Asia over recent decades has brought about a transformation in the nature of law and legal institutions in the region. Whilst the process of change has to some degree mimicked western models of law and legal change, there have been significant differences in approach due to the different social foundations of East Asian societies. The more obvious of these has been the variety of ways in which rule of law ideas have been adopted in many East Asian countries where the role of the state is more dominant when compared with Western models. This volume brings together a selection of the most important writings on East Asia of researchers in recent years, and shows the broad range of questions which researchers have been addressing about the effect of law reform and legal change in societies dominated by traditional values and political forces, and at a time of massive economic change.

This volume offers a comparative study of Hong Kong, Singapore and Mainland China's financial models conducted by leading experts in the field and advances a sophisticated and common understanding on the development of financial centres in Asia based on the rule of law.

This study argues that the liberal notion of the rule of law regulating the exercise of power is unlikely to come about in much of southeastern Asia. The book asserts that it is more likely to promote political elites.

This book examines administrative law throughout Asia, exploring the profound changes in many legal regimes that have occurred. It shows how many states have shifted towards a more market-oriented regulatory state model, involving a greater role for judges and law-like processes, and explores the profound implications of this for policy-making.