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Author	Prof Ninjin Bataa
Organisation/Institution	National University of Mongolia, School of Law
Country	MONGOLIA
Panel	Constitutional and Admin Law
Title	Judicial Coups and the Independence of Constitutional Courts in Asian Countries: A Case Study of Mongolia and Thailand
Abstract	Modern constitutionalism was introduced alongside with constitutions based on the separation of powers in order to prevent abuse of state power and act as a guarantee for the rights and freedom of citizens. As a result, coups d'états using military and armed forces to usurp or take over the state power, became infrequent. In recent years, some countries in Asia including Mongolia and Thailand, are facing regime seizures and consecutive regime changes due to influential activities of high officials on judicial power. The phenomena is called the judicial coup d'etat. For example, removal of the Prime Ministers (2006 and 2008), the dissolution of political parties (2020 and 2022) by the Constitutional Court of Thailand, and the abolition of election system of proportional representation (2016), and the lifting of restrictions on Cabinet members holding concurrent parliamentary positions (2022) by the Constitutional Court of Mongolia could be mentioned. In both countries, similarities regarding the judicial coups exist. Namely, a large percentage of the judges of the Constitutional Courts in both countries are not lawyers, but government officials. The fact that government officials are appointed as a member of Constitutional Court, an institution that checks and balances the rule of law in the country, weakens the notion of separation of powers. Moreover, it has a negative impact on the independence of the Constitutional Court and, in a larger picture, on the fundamentals of the rule of law. Thus, this article proposes how strengthening the procedures of appointment and requirements of qualifications imposed on the members of the Constitutional Court, could improve the rule of law. In doing so, the authors examined Asian sovereignties including Mongolia and Thailand.
Biography	I am a Senior Lecturer at the School of Law, National University of Mongolia, where I have taught since 2022. My teaching focuses on Private International Law, International Investment Law, and International Arbitration. My research examines foreign investment frameworks in Southeast and Central Asia, reforms in EU investment regulation, international commercial and investment dispute settlement mechanisms, and the modernization of institutional arbitration rules. Alongside my academic work, I actively coach student teams for major international moot competitions, including the Willem C. Vis Moot in Austria, the International Arbitration and Business Negotiation Competition in Japan, and the International Investment Arbitration Moot. I also have practical experience in both domestic and international arbitration, including work on procedural rule compliance and arbitration-related legal assessments.