Online Burma/Myanmar Library
Law and Constitution
The Burmese legal material in this section is divided into Texts and Commentary. Texts are (1) adopted laws (“Laws”, “Acts”); (Two) Bills (legislation proposed but not yet adopted); (Three) implementing instruments (“rules”, “regulations”, “procedures”, by(e)-laws” etc.) all of which we call “Regulations”. (Four) Orders, notifications, announcements, orders etc. we call Decrees. Most commentaries are by the Government, the UN, NGOs, scholars or journalists.
Some of the documents here are are illegible with Firefox – use Google Chrome or download and read offline
If you cannot find a particular item in OBL or these links, copy the title into a google search. Burmese versions of laws can sometimes be found in the “Mirror” (Kyemon) and “Myanmar Alin” shortly after they are adopted.
Look in the section on the UN System for the UN resolutions on the situation of human rights in Myanmar and the reports to the General Assembly and Commission on Human Rights of the Special Rapporteurs on Myanmar.
Legal pluralism covers situations where more than one legal culture are present. In Burma/Myanmar there is the Anglo-Burmese statutory law (including special legislation for non-Buddhist communities), Burmese and non-Burmese customary law, legal codes drafted by various non-state actors as well as the gradual entry of international human rights and other standards. In our view, legal pluralism has an significant place in the peace process.
These would be in addition to, or in some cases incorporating, customary law.
Formerly “Legal Issues on Burma Journal”. Despite the name, this is a distinct journal, and not simply the English version of the Burmese-language “LawKa pala” (formerly “Journal of Constitutional Affairs”). The BLC site is presently (permanently?) offline, but alternate links to the BLC site are provided in case it comes back.
Despite the name, this is a distinct journal, and not simply the Burmese version of the English-language “LawKa PaLa – Legal Journal on Burma”. The BLC site is presently (permanently?) offline, but alternate links to the BLC site are provided in case it comes back.
This is a fresh sub-section. Please contribute texts (links or documents) and give guidance on structure
Some of these documents are illegible via Firefox. Use Google Chrome
For the texts of bills, see the compilations by year under Politics and Government
In this and the following sections the material is divided into Texts and Commentary. The texts may be adopted laws (“Laws”, “Acts”) or bills (legislation proposed but not yet adopted) or implementing instruments (“rules”, “regulations”, “directives”, “notifications”, “procedures” etc.)
Many of these texts were taken (with permission) from the Displacement Solutions Book: “HOUSING, LAND AND PROPERTY RIGHTS IN BURMA: THE CURRENT LEGAL FRAMEWORK” http://www.displacementsolutions.org/files/documents/Burma_HLP_book.pdf
This sub-section contains material on foreign direct investment in Burma/Myanmar
In the wake of the SLORC’s refusal to transfer power following the one thousand nine hundred ninety elections, it claimed that a fresh constitution would very first have to be written. The National Convention, most of whose members were hand-picked by SLORC, very first met in January one thousand nine hundred ninety three with the aim of drafting the basic elements for such a constitution. However, “the representatives elected by the people are those who have the responsibility to draw up the constitution of the future democratic State” (para twenty of Declaration 1/90).
The material for the sessions of the National Convention beginning seventeen May two thousand four is taken from the online versions of “The Fresh Light of Myanmar”. The files for the 1993-1996 sessions are extracted from Hugh MacDougall’s “The Burma Press Summary” (BPS), 1987-1996 (for the accomplish BPS archive, click the link on this library’s home page). The reports are transcribed or summarised from the SLORC and SPDC press, “The Working People’s Daily” (WPD), re-named “The Fresh Light of Myanmar” (NLM) in 1993. The record is therefore ultimately from SLORC and SPDC sources. It is incomplete and cannot be taken as entirely unbiased. However, there are many utter text documents, including speeches and official announcements, which makes the archive utterly useful, and perhaps the only source for those who do not have access to the original newspapers. The “Reports on meetings of the National Convention Convening Commission” are from the SPDC website. There is a gap in the record from end one thousand nine hundred ninety six when the BPS ceased, to early 1998. It is interesting to note that, apart from the reports of the statements by military leaders, the reports of the two thousand four sessions are almost entirely lacking in substance (the bulk of the reporting is dedicated to lists of names and organisations and what the general topic was, but no detail) whereas the reports of the sessions inbetween one thousand nine hundred ninety three and one thousand nine hundred ninety six contain summaries and even utter texts of the statements of the various delegates — as well, of course, as utter texts of the SLORC statements. The versions of the two thousand four sessions in OBL have had the photos eliminated for speedier downloading. To see the very exposing photos, click on the Source at the foot of each report or group of reports.
These documents contain the texts of the “Principles laid down to serve as bases in prescribing State Fundamental Principles (“the one hundred four principles”) as well as the “detailed basic principles” elaborated later.
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