Judicial independence in authoritarian and hybrid regimes

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Judicial independence has traditionally been associated with developed democracies. This has changed in the last few decades as judicial independence increased in countries with authoritarian (where powers are centralised in an office held by an individual or a group) and hybrid (a mix of autocratic and democratic features) regimes such as Colombia, Indonesia, and Pakistan. My doctoral research explored the unexpected emergence after 2005 of decisions against the government's political interests by the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) which had, until then, shown little independence from military and political elites. The aim of my thesis was to explain how and why, in the context of authoritarian and hybrid regimes such as the three regimes in Pakistan from 2005 to 2013, the judiciary was able to increase its independence. I argued that several factors including the rise of the middle-class and media due to socio-economic changes, the emergence of a judge as a popular leader, and divisions within political elites contributed to the increase in judicial independence during these authoritarian and hybrid regimes in Pakistan. A key lesson offered by this research is that competition amongst, and between, disparate groups of elites and the middle class in their pursuit of different interests contributed to the increase in judicial independence. Building on my PhD, this fellowship aims to influence social and political actors contributing to judicial independence by widely disseminating the findings of my research and engaging directly with researchers, practitioners, policy-makers, judges, and the general public on the subject of judicial independence. First, I will consolidate my scholarly contributions to the field of judicial independence via two articles and by securing a leading publisher for the publication of monograph (based on my PhD thesis). Second, I will organise a closed workshop at the School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University towards the end of the project for members of key groups involved in judicial independence in authoritarian and hybrid regimes including researchers, practitioners, judges, civil society organisations, journalists, and policymakers. Academics and PhD students from different universities working in the area will be invited to attend the workshop. A number of key participants have already agreed to participate via Skype including representatives of civil society organisations and prominent journalists from Pakistan. A number of senior judges from Pakistan have expressed interest in attending subject to their schedules. A key individual from the Judicial Policy Making Committee of Pakistan(JPMCP) will also be invited to participate and to share the findings with senior judges responsible for judicial reforms. The goal of the workshop is to provide a forum to open up interdisciplinary discussions with key groups that go beyond the discussion of constitutions and instead invite critical discussions of the roles played by the social and political groups in increasing judicial independence in authoritarian and hybrid regimes. Third, I aim to improve my research network and research skills through participation in annual conferences of the Socio-legal Studies Association and the International Society of Public Law. Fourth, I will develop this research for a future funding proposal for a comparative project on judicial independence in countries with authoritarian and hybrid regimes including those in Colombia, Egypt and Indonesia. The project will also aim to investigate how international civil society organisations contribute to judicial independence in these regimes. Finally, my goal is to engage with a wider audience by creating a website for the posting of blogs on judicial independence in authoritarian and hybrid regimes and for uploading relevant data, research findings and reports.