This is the last volume of the four-volume series Asian Comparative Constitutional Law which aims to provide an authoritative account of four major issues in comparative constitutional law across Asian jurisdictions. The present volume focuses on constitutional rights – or basic rights enshrined in constitutions in nineteen Asian jurisdictions.

The volume explores four sets of questions:

The first set of questions concerns how constitutional rights originated in Asia and spread across the continent. Where do constitutional rights come from? How do constitutional rights reflect global human rights norms? And how do constitutional rights reflect local values and conditions?

The second set of questions focuses on the formal legal architecture of rights. How fundamental rights are provided for in Asian constitutions and what are the legal features of these rights?

The third set of questions pertains to the functions of constitutional rights in Asian constitutions. What roles these rights play in society and how are they used to address socioeconomic issues such as inequality?

Finally, the volume asks questions about legal doctrine. How are constitutional rights interpreted? Who interprets them? And what are the doctrines (e.g. proportionality) used to interpret constitutional rights?

Nineteen Asian jurisdictions are covered in this volume; these range from those in East Asia (Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Mongolia, the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong), Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Laos), and South Asia (India, Pakistan, the Maldives, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka).

Rehan Abeyratne is Professor of Law at Western Sydney University, Australia.
Ngoc Son Bui is Professor of Asian Laws at the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, UK.
Mara Malagodi is Reader in Law at the School of Law, University of Warwick, UK.