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Critical and innovative account of the unique Thai constitutional model

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Is Thailand a Constitutional Monarchy?
I. The Purpose and General Argument of the Book: Why the Thai Constitution Matters
II. The Issue of Royal Prerogatives in a Constitutional Monarchy: Text, Conventions and Doctrines
III. Sacred Monarchy vs. the Rule of Law: The Interplay of Law and Religion Mediated through Kingship
IV. Constitutional Bricolage: The Indeterminacy of Legal Transplants and their Political Re-assignments
V. Outline of the Chapters

PART I
IMPORTING THE MODERN CONSTITUTION
2. Siam’s First Constitutions: The Rise and Fall of the Sacred Monarchy
I. The Hindu-Khmer Origins of the Traditional Constitution
II. The 1889, 1926 and 1932 Draft Constitutions: The Bonapartist and British Tropes
III. The 1932 Constitutions: The Soviet/Chinese and Prussian/Japanese Influences
3. Legal Positivism and Buddhist Kingship: Establishing the King as the Source of the Constitution
I. Hindu-Buddhist Theories: The Devaraja and Dharmaraja Kings
II. The European Influence: Importing Doctrines of Royal Absolutism
III. From the European Doctrine of ‘Royal Octroy’ to the King’s Granted Rattathammanun
4. From the Sacred Monarchy to the Sacred Constitution
I. Royal Despotism, Theocracy and Sacred Law
II. Royal Reforms: The Westernisation of Law and Kingship
III. Royal Vetoes and Amnesties versus the Sacred Constitution

PART II
IMPORTING THE STATE OF EMERGENCY
5. Thailand’s Cold War Constitutions: Constitutions for the Military
I. The 1947–1949 Constitutions: The Royalist Restoration and the Rejection of the British Model
II. The 1959, 1968 and 1972 Constitutions: Military Dictatorship and the Gaullist Inspiration
III. The 1974–1991 Constitutions: The US Influence on Military Dictatorship under Royal Command?
6. Revolutionary Legality and Buddhist Kingship: Theorising the King’s Extra-Constitutional Powers in Times of Crisis
I. From Kelsen’s Revolutionary Legality to Thai-Style Democracy
II. From Bagehot’s Three Conventional Powers of the Monarch to the Invention of Thai Constitutional Customs
III. Revolutionary Legality Revised: The Doctrine of Shared Sovereignty between the King, the Military and the People
7. From Military Dictatorship to Military Dictatorship under (Sacred) Royal Command
I. The Monarchy against the Military: Practices of Royal Constitutional Veto
II. The Monarchy on Top of the Military: Royally Sanctioned Military Coups and Amnesty Laws for Coup-Makers
III. The Monarchy above the Military: Direct Royal Interventions against Military Juntas

PART III
IMPORTING CONSTITUTIONAL JUSTICE
8. Thailand’s Post-Cold War Constitutions: Constitutions for the Judiciary
I. The 1997 Constitution: The Transformative ‘Global South’ Constitution
II. The 2007 Constitution: Juristocracy under US Inspiration?
III. The 2017 Constitution: Juristocracy and Military Dictatorship under Royal Command
9. The Rule of Law and Buddhist Kingship: Turning the Constitutional Court into a Substitute King
I. From the Rejection of the British Practice of the Royal Prerogative to the Creation of a Constitutional Court Ruling in the Name of the King
II. From US-Style Judicial Activism to ‘Judicialisation’: Transferring the King’s Extra-Constitutional
Powers to the Constitutional Court
III. From Global Discourses on the Rule of Law and Good Governance to the Doctrine of Dharmaraja Governance
10. From Judicialisation at the King’s Request to Juristocracy under Royal Command
I. Judicialisation at the King’s Request: Practices of Direct and Indirect Royal Vetoes
II. More Judicialisation at the King’s Request: The Constitutional Court Defines ‘DKHS’ and its Customs
III. Royal Constitutional Vetoes, Lèse-Majesté and ‘DKHS’: The Affirmation of the Royal Prerogative
11. Conclusion: Democracy with the King as Head of State: The Bricolage of Thai Constitutional Identity
I. Summary of the Book’s Contribution: Bricolage as a Process and Method in Comparative Constitutional Law
II. Taking Textual Provisions Seriously: On the Royal Prerogative and Constitutional Conventions
III. Taking Local Doctrine Seriously: On the Power of Legal Ideas and the Use of Religion to Localise Legal Transplants
IV. Taking Constitutional Practices Seriously: On Political Precedents and the Performativity of Constitutional
Story-telling
V. Epilogue: Thailand and the Possibility of Decentring Comparative Constitutional Law

About the Author

Eugénie Mérieau is Associate Professor of Public Law at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France.

Reviews

As a work that explains in depth the evolution of monarchical domination over Thailand’s various constitutions, it is unsurpassed.
*Pacific Affairs*

Carefully researched and persuasively argued … [a] clear and well-documented account of the origins of a constitutionalism and its “own dogmatic logic.”
*Asian Journal of Law and Society*

Constitutional Bricolage is a significant contribution to Thai constitutional law literature. It offers a new approach to the subject and provides a richly detailed account of Thailand’s constitutional history.
*International Journal of Constitutional Law*

There is a lot to like in Mérieau’s newest book, Constitutional Bricolage. As Mérieau high lights, the book does much that has often been lacking in studies of Thai and non-Western constitutions. This includes that it seeks to take Thai constitutions seriously, and that it is based on extensive research that covers not only secondary, but also a wide range of primary, sources … the book should be of interest not only to scholars of Thailand, but also to those interested in monarchies, the movement of legal ideas, comparative method, and legal history.
*Asian Studies Review*

The most comprehensive analysis to date of the impact that foreign legal conceptual transplants have had on Thailand’s constitutional topography.
*Contemporary Southeast Asia*

Eugénie Mérieau is one of the finest scholars on Thai constitutional law … Constitutional Bricolage is a fascinating book. Thai legal history is the river less travelled, and Eugénie Mérieau has marvellously filled this void. The book is packed with interesting detail, not only for constitutional lawyers, but anyone interested in the topic of the Thai monarchy and politics.
*Journal of Siam Society*

Constitutional Bricolage offers a comprehensive understanding of Thai constitutional history through contextual legal studies.
*Thai Legal Studies*

A book of graceful sophistication in structure and of inspiring academic passion in substance.
*SOJOURN*