Trafficking in Law: Cause Lawyer, Bureaucratic State and Rights of Human Trafficking Victims in Thailand

In this case study of a young, Thai “cause lawyer”, advocacy for human rights is considered in context. The most important elements of that context are the path of development of Thai political and legal institutions, globalisation of law, and the networks of relationships that penetrate the state. The case study shows that human rights advocacy by NGO lawyers can adapt creatively to unpromising conditions under which courts provide little access or oversight. At the same time, the case study raises profound questions about the ultimate independence of cause lawyers when the state must be made a partner in order to establish the authority of law needed to make human rights advocacy possible. The ambiguity of the lawyer’s position is apparent from the relative ineffectiveness of her interventions and her growing moral authority on behalf of best practices under law. Her position suggests the limitations on law imposed by the underpinnings of the Thai state itself

Lev on the Links between Legal Evolution, Political Change and Activism

This concluding chapter reflects on the contributions in this volume in light of Dan S. Lev’s work on legal evolution and political change. Munger highlights Lev’s admirable lifetime of academic-activism on Indonesian law. It is this mix of academic scholarship and practical advocacy that informs the chapters in this volume and orients the chapters towards Lev’s work as an example of scholarship infused with activism

Thailand: The Evolution of Law, the Legal Profession and Political Authority

This article describes the origin and development of the modern Thai legal profession. Intimately linked in origin to the development of the modern Thai state, the legal profession increasingly resembles the profession in economically developed democracies. Paralleling other regional developments, Thailand’s rapid economic development, constitutional reforms, and expanding judicialization drives many of the most important changes in the education and function of lawyers. Significant differences continue to exist between the profession in Thailand and legal professions in developed democracies, reflecting the profession’s origins and the continuing influence of consciousness and class structure as well as Thailand’s peculiarly semi-democratic and monarchical state