Deference in Human Rights Adjudication

Professor Chan's rich, rigorous comparative analysis of judicial deference is full of insight on every page. Her book takes a topic that is notoriously resistant to systemic analysis and constructs a bold yet careful framework for understanding it, based on caselaw from jurisdictions around the world. This is a must read for all judges, scholars, and students working on human rights adjudication, proportionality, and indeed adjudication in general. * David E. Landau, Mason Ladd Professor and Associate Dean for International Programs, Florida State University *
This elegant book deserves recognition as a leading work on judicial deference. It maps the most common deferential techniques, analyses how and when they are used, and canvasses ways to enhance consistency and accountability in judicial recourse to deference. The primary focus of the work is experience with judicial deference in six broadly comparable common law jurisdictions: Canada, India, Hong Kong, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. The book also offers a wealth of insights for jurisdictions elsewhere, once appropriate allowance for context is made. * Cheryl Saunders, Laureate Professor Emeritus, University of Melbourne *
The argument is forceful and clear. It is permeated by a refreshing emphasis on analytic distinctions and conceptual propositions in a subject often haunted by hazy ideas [The] book rewards careful study and will remain an enduring contribution to the deference scholarship, both within the human rights context and elsewhere. * Lia Lawton,Law Quarterly Review *
Cora Chan's new book, Deference in Human Rights Adjudication, offers a tightly reasoned and extensive engagement with the premise of deference…. With careful analysis of several lines of caselaw, more analytical than strictly comparative, she presents a grid of guidance notes on the various postures that courts have adopted, in dealing with deference and human rights. The findings are telling, not just for the jurisdictions in question, but for the international and regional human rights tribunals now faced with questions of their own appropriate role, and for other courts supervising the extensive bills of rights and expressly justiciable complaints that have come with the last wave of constitution making and amendment…. This book justifies a close reading. * Katharine G. Young, Professor, Dean's Distinguished Scholar, Boston College Law School, JOTWELL *
Chan's monograph succeeds remarkably in offering both theoretical and practical insights on deference. The arguments offered in the book are of broader relevance beyond human rights adjudication.... As such, this book is essential reading for all public law scholars, not just those interested in the topic of deference in human rights adjudication. It is also essential reading for judges involved in public law adjudication. * Kenny Chng, Associate Professor, Yong Pung How School of Law, Singapore Management University, Public Law *