Current projects
Defending Constitutional Democracy: The Military and the Constitution in Asia
Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship FT240100384 (2025-2029)
Responding to the United Nations’ calls to end military rule, this project aims to investigate the legal challenges that the military poses to constitutional democracy in Asia and beyond. The project expects to develop rigorous qualitative, comparative research to explain how the military rules through constitutions in authoritarian regimes. Anticipated outcomes include novel, empirically-informed insights into how constitutions empower the military, and also constitutional design strategies to subordinate the military to civilian control in Myanmar and Indonesia. Outcomes will benefit Australian policymakers, international organisations committed to advocacy for constitutional democracy, and international scholarship.
PhD scholarship recipients
Sulaiman Sujono, Ensuring Constitutional Control: Civil-Military Relations in Indonesia’
Luwie Ganeshathasan, Taming the National Security President: Understanding the Jurisprudence of Sri Lanka’s Superior Courts Regarding Presidential Authority on National Security
Research Associate: Natasha Naidu
Publications
Book
(2025) The Palimpsest Constitution: The Social Life of Constitutions in Myanmar. Oxford, Oxford University Press. ISBN: 9780198956884
Journal article
(2025) ‘Constitutional Coup-proofing’ 58(4) World Comparative Law 574-602(with Christoph Sperfeldtz)
Book chapters
(forthcoming 2026) ‘The Military & the Separation of Powers’ in Erin Delany, Mathieu Leloup, David Landau, Michaela Hailbronner, Eoin Carolan, Joana Mendes, Sergio Verdugo and Cora Chan (eds) Handbook on the Separation of Powers. CUP
(forthcoming 2026) ‘Façade Constitutions: The View from Myanmar’ in Mark Tushnet, Benjamin Liebman, Cora Chan and Madhav Khosla (eds) Handbook on Law and Authoritarian Regimes. OUP
Short contributions
(2026) ‘Interview with Melissa Crouch on her book, The Palimpsest Constitution, Communication, Media, Performance Anthropology (CaMP) blog
(2026) ‘Resisting militarism through constitution-making: The fight for civilian rule in Burma/Myanmar’, Political and Legal Anthropology Review (POLAR)
(2026) ‘Sociolegal Studies in Southeast Asia’, in Håkan Hydén, Peter Scharff Smith and Ulrike Schultz (eds) Elgar Encyclopedia of Sociology of Law. Edward Elgar
(2026) ‘Judicial Pluralism in Indonesia’ in Håkan Hydén, Peter Scharff Smith and Ulrike Schultz (eds) Elgar Encyclopedia of Sociology of Law. Edward Elgar
(2026) Book review: Simon Butt, ‘Judicial Dysfunction in Indonesia’, 23(4) International Journal of Constitutional Law.
(2025) Book review: Tom Gerald Daly and Dinesha Samararatne, ‘Democratic Consolidation and Constitutional Endurance in Asia and Africa: Comparing Uneven Pathways’, 11 (2) Constitutional Studies 553-6
(2025) Book Review: Elliot Prasse-Freeman, ‘Rights Refused: Grassroots Activism and State Violence in Myanmar’ (40) Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia
(2025) ‘Intercultural Legal Dialogue: The Experiences of Academics from Asia in Australia’ 26 Sept, Asian Currents
(2025) ‘Melissa Crouch researches threats to constitutional democracy in authoritarian regimes‘ Dec, Australian Academy of the Humanities
This project is based on the agenda set in the article (2024) The Military Turn in Comparative Constitutional Law.
Public seminars
2025, Invited Speaker, Atmajaya University and Jentera Law School, Jakarta; UI, Dec
2025, Invited Speaker, Law School, Pelita Harapan University Jakarta, Dec
2025, Invited Speaker, Judicial Commission, Indonesia, Jakarta, Dec
2025, Invited Speaker, Hukumonline, Jakarta, Dec
2025, Asian Law & Society Association, Book launch, Yogyakarta, Dec
2025, Invited Speaker, UGM Sociolegal Studies workshop, Yogyakarta, Dec
2025, Invited Speaker, Indonesian Constitutional Court, research staff training, Nov
2025, Invited participant, National Roundtable on Asia Literacy, with Tim Watts MP and Asialink, Melbourne
Past project news
Call for conference participants: The Military as a Constitutional Actor – this event is generously funded by the Law & Society Association Advanced Grant.
Call for PhD scholarships – the call for applications for PhD scholarships at UNSW Law & Justice as part of this project is available here.
Melissa Crouch 