Religious Offences in Common Law Asia Colonial Legacies, Constitutional Rights and Contemporary Practice
Produktdetaljer
Biografisk notat
Li-ann Thio is Provost Chair Professor and Jaclyn L Neo is Associate Professor, both at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law.This book provides in-depth comparative analysis of how religious penal clauses have been developed and employed within Asian common law states, and the impact of such developments on constitutional rights. By examining the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of religious offences as well as interrogating the nature and impact of religious penal clauses within the region, it contributes to the broader dialogue in relation to religious penal clauses globally, whether in countries which practise forms of secular or religious constitutionalism. Asian practice is significant in this respect, given the centrality of religion to social life and indeed, in some jurisdictions, to constitutional or national identity.
Providing rigorous studies of common law jurisdictions that have adopted similar provisions in their penal code, the contributors provide an original examination and analysis of the use and development of these religious clauses in their respective jurisdictions. They draw upon their insights into the background sociopolitical and constitutional contexts to consider how the inter-relationship of religion and state may determine the rationale and scope of religious offences. These country-by-country chapters inform the conceptual examination of religious views and sentiments as a basis for criminality and the forms of ‘harm’ that attract legal safeguards. Several chapters examine these questions from a historical and comparative perspective, considering the underlying bases and scope, as well as evolving objectives of these provisions. Through these examinations, the book critically interrogates the legacy of colonialism on the criminal law and constitutional practice of various Asian states.
Orthodoxy, Order and Odium: The Enduring Legacy of Religious Penal Clauses in Contemporary Asia
Li-ann Thio, National University of Singapore and Jaclyn L Neo, National University of Singapore
PART I
RELIGIOUS PENAL CLAUSES: HISTORICAL AND CONCEPTUAL PERSPECTIVES
1. Religious Penal Clauses in Commonwealth Asia: A Brief History
Kevin YL Tan, National University of Singapore
2. Apollonian Restraint and Dionysian Impulse: Law, Freedom and Religious Feelings
Li-ann Thio, National University of Singapore
3. Making Islamic Penal Clauses: Translation, Transformation and Transmogrification
Arif A Jamal, National University of Singapore
4. Between Religious Coexistence and Religious Hierarchy: Divergent Developments in Religious Offence Laws in Common Law Asia
Jaclyn L Neo, National University of Singapore
PART II
RELIGIOUS PENAL CLAUSES IN CONTEXT: COUNTRY STUDIES IN COMMON LAW ASIA
5. Religious Penal Clauses in India
Mrinal Satish, National Law School of India University, India
6. Forbidden Discourse: Evaluating the Transformation of Colonial-era Religious Penal Offences into Contemporary Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws
Syed Ali Raza, Pakistan College of Law, Pakistan
7. Bangladesh: Public Law, Religious Freedom and Regulating ‘Religious Sentiment’
SM Masum Billah, Jagannath University, Bangladesh
8. Prosecuting Religious Violence in Sri Lanka
Mario Gomez, International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Sri Lanka
9. Offences against Religion in Malaysia: Navigating the ‘Secular’ Federal Constitution and the Salience of Islam in the Constitutional Order
Dian AH Shah, National University of Singapore
10. Religious Offences Penal Clauses and the Singapore Constitutional Order: Secular, Sensible but Sensitive to the Sacred?
Li-ann Thio, National University of Singapore
11. Recalibrating the Scales of Criminal Justice in Brunei Darussalam: Religious Penal Clauses 1905–2018
Ann Black, The University of Queensland, Australia
An excellent resource for scholars and students working in the field of Asian legal and constitutional studies.
The study of constitutionalism in Asia is one of the most important, fascinating and challenging subjects of contemporary legal study. The continent is immensely diverse in its political ideology, religion, culture, language, economic development and colonial history. It has produced a great multitude of constitutional traditions, from authoritarian regimes to mixed communitarian and liberal constitutional models, and from regimes involving the military and monarchy to secular and theocratic constitutions. At the same time, its experience with courts and constitutions spans the gamut from rights-based to dialogical and good governance approaches, particularly where good government is sought through political process and public avenues rather than through the courts. With respect to judicial review and human rights, Asia provides a rich resource in examining how universal standards and local particularities interact. This series seeks to build on the growing academic interest in Asian constitutionalism by interrogating the normative, historical, empirical and conceptual dimensions of constitutionalism, through the lens of the Asian experience. It is expansive in scope and coverage and includes comparative studies between two or more Asian countries; comparisons between Asian and non-Asian jurisdictions; and critical single jurisdiction case studies. The series provides an excellent resource for scholars and students working in the field of Asian legal and constitutional studies, and comparative constitutional law more generally.