ABSTRACT
Courts and the judiciary have become highly visible in the Asian political landscape. The regular interventions of the Philippine and Indian Supreme Courts in the animated politics of their countries were long considered an exception in the region, but not now. In Korea, Taiwan, and Indonesia new constitutional courts have been crucial in diffusing political crisis and consolidating democratic practice, while in Pakistan the judiciary was critical to clearing the way back to democratic practice. The Malaysian High Court has been embroiled in several politically charged cases, and in Thailand decisions of the Constitutional Court since 2006 have drastically altered the political landscape. Even in more conservative Japan and semi-authoritarian Cambodia and China, there are occasional hints of judicial assertiveness, though so far, for different reasons, those courts have worked to avoid high-profile political cases.
