Constitutional Foundings in Northeast Asia is one of the “Constitutionalism in Asia” series published by Hart Publishing as well as the third volume edited by Kevin Y. L. Tan, along with Michael Ng. Tan is one of Singapore’s leading constitutional law scholars and has published two books: Constitutional Foundings in Southeast Asia (2019) co-edited with Bui Ngoc Son, and Constitutional Foundings in South Asia (2021) co-edited with Ridwanul Hoque. Tan plans to extend the series to Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Western Asia, and constitutional foundings in all areas of Asia will be ascertained by him and his collaborators in the future.

This volume includes analyses of the first modern Constitutions of the eight states/territories in North-East Asia: China (1949), Taiwan (1947), Hong Kong (1997), Macau (1993), Japan (1889), North Korea (1948/1972), South Korea (1948), and Mongolia (1924), and it examines the drafting, nature, core values, and roles of these countries’ Constitution. Scholars attempting a comprehensive study of the world might be usually inclined, due to limited time and resources, to deal only with “representative” countries in the region (and it may disappoint readers from undescribed countries with alienation). However, every country has its unique significance and value, and every country’s Constitution has a history worthy of discussion. The editors of this book paid equal attention to all North-East Asian countries (or territories) and have requested scholars, primarily from these countries, to work on their Constitutions. The editors’ egalitarian approach will be appreciated and supported by readers worldwide, and it will contribute to fostering the further study of the countries’ Constitutions, which has not yet been thoroughly examined and internationally introduced.

One of the prominent features of this book is that it includes chapters on the framing of constitutional orders in Hong Kong and Macau, the Special Administrative Regions (SARs) of the People’s Republic of China. The editors state that “[t]he Basic Laws of Hong Kong and Macau are … the de facto constitutions of these two territories” (p. 9) and the former is discussed in detail by the legal historian and the constitutional scholar in Hong Kong in Chapter 3, as well as the latter by a Macanese constitutional scholar in Chapter 2. The basic laws that institutionalized “One Country, Two Systems” in the SARs is an extremely important topic for the government system of the states. The history that these laws were enacted by the National People’s Congress of China and the fact that the power of interpretation of the laws is reserved to the Congress should be deeply considered when discussing politics in North-East Asia. However, some readers may doubt whether the basic laws of regions not independent from another sovereign state should be described as a “Constitution,” and may ask the editors what the concept of a Constitution in this book is. Others may be strongly concerned about whether human rights, such as freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, are guaranteed to people in the SARs; however, this book does not directly answer the question of the contemporary human rights situation, although it provides prerequisite knowledge of the history of the issue for consideration.

The editors made three requests to contributors of this book: (1) to provide an exploratory description of the process and substance in making the first modern Constitution in each country, (2) to provide an explanatory analysis of the internal and external factors involved in the making of each Constitution, and (3) to offer some reflections on the role of the first Constitution in the founding of their respective modern nation-state and the subsequent state-building process. The first request by the editors to contributors includes important questions: (a) How was the constitution-making body constituted and who were its members? (b) How was the first Constitution drafted? (c) What were the fundamental constitutional questions that the drafters considered? (d) How were these questions debated in the constitution-making body and, if at all, among members of the public? and (e) How was the first Constitution approved? These questions are related to the legitimacy of the Constitution of each country, as well as the independence and autonomy of the country. The second request includes clarifying how the political factors influenced establishing the Constitution in each country. Various factors are examined in each chapter, including a polity’s political-legal tradition, colonial past, revolution, socioeconomic condition, political/civil/ethnic conflicts, social division, ideology and local intellectual environment/movements, the influence of foreign constitutional experiences and ideas, international bodies, or experts, and their interactions with the internal factors. Since this book analyzes the political factors affecting the constitution-making process in each country, it is a useful reference for scholars of comparative politics. The third request includes three questions: (a) How did the Constitution impact the founding of state institutions, including the legislature, the executive government, courts, and others? (b) Did the first Constitution influence the subsequent constitutional developments and practices? and (c) Does the first Constitution still influence contemporary constitutional design and structural reform plans and, if so, how? The answers by the authors of each chapter to these questions will not only satisfy the interests of the first Constitution from the historical perspective but may also provide some suggestions for the contemporary problems of the current Constitution of each country.

The reviewer finds this book useful for all readers interested in the Constitutions of North-East Asia. At the same time, he would like to add that the potential readers should be aware that this book examines the first Constitutions of North-East Asian countries, which are not the current Constitutions for many countries. From this book, readers will learn about the process and meaning of establishing the Constitution in North-East Asian countries, although the Constitutions portrayed in the chapters are not the ones now in effect but have become historical documents for the countries, except the Republic of China Constitution (the Taiwanese Constitution), which is the most enduring in North-East Asia and has been examined in Chapter 5. As the editors indicate, contemporary constitutional law and practice are inevitably shaped by its constitutional past, and the reviewer also opines that through studying the history of the Constitution, implications for contemporary problems on the government and human rights can be gained, and the future of constitutional agenda may be seen. This book reveals that for many countries, the new Constitutions were established to mark a polity’s clear break from the past, including China (discussed in Chapter 2), Mongolia (in Chapter 9), and Japan (in Chapter 6). For scholars of history, political science, and regional studies, the thorough analyses of the first Constitutions must be attractive. Nevertheless, some potential readers would like to learn how the current Constitutions were established and how they work now in each country of this region beyond the historical aspect. The editors have also noted that “most [constitutional] scholars tend to focus generally on contemporary constitutional issues” (p. 4); however, this book will give significant suggestions for such kinds of demands, but not answer them directly.

From the Western perspective of constitutional theory, constitutionalism is solely understood based on the respect for human rights and democracy, and all Constitutions should be written to establish the state that secures people’s unalienable rights, and its power is derived from the consent of the people. However, the readers of this book will find such understandings are not always self-evident truths in some countries in North-East Asia. Through this book, the editors and contributors have highlighted that the first Constitutions in many countries in this region did not necessarily create liberal democratic states. They further state that “the constitution’s primary role is to lay down the foundational framework for Northeast Asia’s modern nation-states, and does not serve purely to limit state power and protect individual liberties” (p. 8). This finding may appear somewhat new to people who have enjoyed constitutional rights in a liberal democratic country and can only be acquired through the study of constitutional founding. In this sense, the editors and contributors have certainly succeeded in proving that the role of the Constitution is not always to limit state power and guarantee individual liberties. Therefore, some readers (especially those who are used to a liberal democratic Constitution) may ask the editors what the nature of constitutionalism in this book is. Adding to this potential question, the transition to the liberal democratic polity and its influence on the Constitution will be the next subject to study. The contributor of Chapter 7 of this book notes that the founding Constitution adopted in 1948 “failed to give immediate birth to a flourishing liberal democracy in [South] Korea” (p. 184). Chapter 9 elucidates that “Mongolians had decided to adopt a new constitution modelled on liberal democratic lines” to replace the former Constitutions (p. 210). South Korea, Mongolia, and Japan replaced the founding Constitutions with the liberal democratic Constitutions. Further research is expected to follow the study of this book and a new question will be added to the editors’ original questions: Why was the liberal democratic Constitution established beyond the founding Constitution?

Half of the contributors to this book are not constitutional scholars in the narrow sense of meaning (scholars who study the interpretation of the current Constitution of their respective country and teach the constitutional law and cases to students in law schools or colleges), but legal historians and other experts in law and politics. This fact does not undermine the value of this book, but rather enhances it. This book focuses on the founding of Constitutions, so constitutional scholars may well deserve to analyze the first Constitutions in some countries; however, scholars of history or political science may add different perspectives in other countries. What makes this book attractive to scholars from diverse academic fields is the abundance of describing the constitution-making process from an interdisciplinary perspective. However, those who are interested in how Constitutions have worked today in society may find it insufficient for their academic requirements. Some readers would desire to learn more about the constitutional dynamics in North-East Asian countries and how the Constitutions will fare in the future. Therefore, the reviewer hopes that when the editors have completed their journey all over Asia on constitutional foundings, they will embark on a journey on the implementation of the current Constitutions and the relationship between constitutional law and society in the region.