Melissa Crouch

The future for Muslims in Myanmar affects the region and Australia. While many have lauded Myanmar’s transition since 2011, the political changes have come at significant cost for certain social groups. Serious violence in 2012 spread from Rakhine State to many major towns across Myanmar and primarily targeted Muslim communities. This led to widespread displacement within Myanmar, as well as beyond its borders. The Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea crisis last year promoted a renewed sense of urgency for the region, including Australia. Domestically, in 2015, some monks were successful in lobbying the Myanmar parliament to pass several laws in an attempt to stop Muslims from marrying Buddhists. In addition, changes to electoral laws that meant those without citizenship (many of whom are Muslim) were not allowed to vote or run in the elections of November 2015. In short, law has been used as an instrument to fuel anti-Muslim sentiment and Muslim-Buddhist relations have reac

Wednesday 30 March, 12.30-2pm Brindabella Theatre, JG Crawford Building (132), Lennox Crossing, ANU Overview On 31 March 2016, a democratically elected government will take power in Myanmar for the first time in over half a century. But even as Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy assumes the presidency and takes most Cabinet positions, the military and key ministries remain outside of its control. This panel will examine whether the new government and the military can work together, and some of the challenges that they are likely to face, including conflicts with ethnic armed groups, economic development, and religious tensions. The panel will also consider the policies of foreign governments, particularly Australia, the United States, China, India, and the European Union, and how they may shift following the transfer of power. Speakers will include: Mr Aaron Connelly , Research Fellow, East Asia Program, Lowy Institute for International Policy Ma Ye Yint

A special issue on The Indonesian Constitutional Court has been published in the Australian Journal of Asian Law 2016, and is available online at SSRN . It includes the following articles: Rosalind Dixon, Simon Butt and Melissa Crouch, T he First Decade of Indonesia’s Constitutional Court Theunis Roux and Fritz Siregar, Trajectories ofCurial Power Simon Butt, The Constitutional Court and Indonesian Electoral Law Stefanous Hendrianto, Socio-Economic Rights and the Indonesian Constitutional Court Nadirsyah Hosen, The Constitutional Court & ‘Islamic’ Judges in Indonesia Melissa Crouch, Constitutionalism, Islam and the Practise of Religious Deference The articles are available for free download from SSRN