Central Asian Law

Alkon, Cynthia. “The Increased Use of Reconciliation in Criminal Cases in Central Asia: A Sign of Reform or Cause for Concern?” 19th International Conference of the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law (2005), http://www.isrcl.org/.

Sections: Introduction; Why is Reform needed?; The Current State of the Law in Central Asia Regarding the Use of Reconciliation; Current Reconciliation Practices; Conclusion

Alkon, Cynthia. “The Increased Use of “Reconciliation” in Criminal Cases in Central Asia: A Sign of Restorative Justice, Reform or Cause for Concern?” Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal 8 (2007): 41-116.

Sections: Introduction; This Article; The Data Gathering Process; Background on Central Asia; Restorative Justice in Western Countries; Reconciliation in Central Asia; Conclusion

Anderson, Justice Paul H. “A Minnesota Judge’s Perspective on the Rule of Law in China and Kyrgyzstan.” Minnesota Journal of International Law 18, no. 2 (2009): 343-56.

Beyer, Judith. “Imagining the State in Rural Kyrgyzstan: How Perceptions of the State Create Customary Law in the Kyrgyz Aksakal Courts.” Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology Working Papers 95 (2007).

Sections: Introduction; Studying the State through its Local Imaginations; Imagining the State through Visiting State Officials, the Media and Memories; The Introduction of the Kyrgyz Aksakal Courts; “There is this Law …”: imagining the state in aksakal court sessions; Conclusion

Beyer, Judith. “Revitalisation, Invention and Continued Existence of the Kyrgyz Aksakal Courts: Listening to Pluralistic Accounts of History.” Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law 53 (2006): 141.

Sections: Introduction, Official Discourses on the Historical Development of the aksakal Courts, Historical Data on the Development of the aksakal Courts, Local Discourses on the Historical Development of the Institution, Conclusion

Beyer, Judith. “According to Salt: An Ethnography of Customary Law in Talas, Kyrgyzstan.” Dissertation, Martin-Luther-Universitat, 2009.

Sections: Introduction; Salt as legal repertoire; Settling descent; Performing authority; Buying and paying respect; Imagining the state in the aksakal courts; Taking and giving carpets; Conclusion

Cormier, Kelley E. “Grievance Practices in Post-Soviet Kyrgyz Agriculture.” Law & Social Inquiry 32, no. 2 (2007): 435-66.

Sections: Introduction; The Sociolegal Nexus and Institutional Change; Conceptual Approach: Naming, Claiming, and Blaming in Kyrgyz Agriculture; Methods; Background; Reasons for Grievances in Commercial Disputes; Resolutions of Grievances in Commercial Disputes; Transformation of Disputes as a Reflection of a New Legal Consciousness; The Influence of Ideology on Commercial Transactions; The Constituted Nature of Beliefs and Disputes; Conclusion; Referrences

Cormier, Kelley E. “The Nature and Structure of Contracts in Kyrgyzstan’s Agricultural Sector: A Framework for Understanding Institutional Change.” Dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2007.

Sections: Introduction; A Review of Contracting Theory; Building a Theory of Contractual Intentions; Continuity and Change in Kyrgyzstan’s Agricultural Sector; The Transformation of Cultural Practices Into Customs; Rural Market Development in the Ferghana Valley; The Transformation of Commercial Customs Back to Practices; Research and Policy Implications

Galemba, David. “The Authoritarian Roadblock on Post-Soviet Central Asia’s Long Road to Religious Freedom.” Rutgers Journal of Law and Religion 8 (2007): 1-33.

Sections: Introduction; Historical Overview of Religion in Central Asia; The Authoritarian Roadblock: Paranoid Leaders and their Constraint on Religious Freedom; The Endless Cycle: Oppression Begets Extremism Begets Oppression; Conclusion

Gegenheimer, Gary. “Judicial Review of Bank Supervisory Decisions in the Former Soviet Republics: The Case of Kyrgyzstan.” Annual Review of Banking and Financial Law 25 (2006): 295-387.

Sections: Introduction; Overview of the Kyrgyz Legal System; International Perspectives; Conclusion: A Modest Reform Proposal

Gill, B. “Aiding the Rule of Law Abroad: The Kyrgyz Republic as a Case Study.” The Fletcher forum of world affairs. 29 (2005): 133-56.

Sections: Background; What is at Stake?; Will the Rule of Law Prevail?; What are the Barriers to Securing Rule of Law?; Recommendations; Conclusion

Giovarelli, Renee, and Cholpon Akmatova. “Local Institutions That Enforce Customary Law in the Kyrgyz Republic: And Their Impact on Women’s Rights.” Agriculture & Rural Development e-Paper (2002).

Sections: Research Objectives; Introduction and Background; Methodology; Findings; Analysis and Discussion; Conclusion; Recommendations

Handrahan, L.M. “Implications of International Human Rights Law and Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan.” PRAXIS The Fletcher Journal of Development Studies XVI (2000).

Sections: Introduction, History of Bride Kidnapping, Bride Kidnapping Today, Background, International Legal Tools to Combat Bride Kidnapping, Prescriptive Measures, Conclusion, Endnotes

Heltzer, Gregory E. “Stalemate in the Aral Sea Basin: Will Kyrgyzstan’s New Water Law Bring the Downstream Nations Back to the Multilateral Bargaining Table?” Georgetown International Environmental Law Review 15, no. 2 (2003): 291-319.

Sections: Introduction; Causes of the Current State of Affairs in Central Asia; International Law and Water as an Economic Good; Kyrgyzstan’s New Law and Its Effect on Regional Discussions; Solving Central Asia’s Water Stalemate; Conclusion

Huskey, Eugene, and Gulnara Iskakova. “Kyrgyzstan.” In Legal Systems of the World: A Political, Social, and Cultural Encyclopedia, edited by Herbert M. Kritzer, 837-42. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2002.

Sections: General Information, History and Legal Concepts, Current Structure, Legal Structure of Kyrgyzstan Courts, Specialized Judicial Bodies, Staffing, Impact

Kangas, Roger D. “Legal Reform in Central Asia: Battling the Influence of History.” In In the Tracks of Tamerlane: Central Asia’s Path to the 21st Century, edited by Daniel L. Burghart and Theresa Sabonis-Helf, 65-91. Washington, DC: Center For Technology and National Security Policy, National Defense University, 2004.

Sections: Legal Antecedents (The Pre-Russian Legacy; Russian and Soviet-era Law); Respective Frameworks of Legal Regimes
in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, The Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan); Basic Dilemmas and Reform Efforts (Challenges; Efforts at Reform); Conclusion

MacKay, Joseph. “Running Dry: International Law and the Management of Aral Sea Depletion.” Central Asian Survey 28, no. 1 (2009): 17-27.

Sections: Background; The Aral Sea in international law; The law on non-navigational uses of international watercourses; The convention on desertification; Regional efforts at regulation; Water as a resource in Kyrgyzstan’s domestic law; Some consequences;

Müllerson, Rein. “The Kyrgyz Tragedy: Particular and General.” Chinese Journal of International Law 10 (2011): 407-26.

Sections: Introduction; Askar Akayev: democratic reforms versus weak authority and corruption; 2005: the Tulip revolution or coup d’état?; Kyrgyzstan and external forces; 2010: struggle for power between Kyrgyz factions and the Uzbek community; The rise of ethno-nationalism, market reforms and majority rule; June 2010: mob violence, human rights and crimes against humanity; Quo vadis Kyrgyzstan: denial, impunity but also hope;

Merrell, David E. “The Post-Tulip Revolution Moment of Constitutional Reform: Will Kyrgyzstan Ever Get a Good Tsar?”, University of Washington Ghallager Law Library, 2009.

Sections: Not All Kyrgyz Citizens Desire Liberal Democracy; Some Desire a Good Tsar; The Tulip “Revolution” did not Bring a Good Tsar and the Post-Revolution Constitutional Reform Efforts did not Bring Liberal Democracy; Whether in the Form of a Good Tsar or Liberal Democracy, Good Governance Takes Time; In the meantime, Merit-Based Education Should Be Supported;

Merrell, David E. “State Engagement with Non-State Justice: How the Experience in Kyrgyzstan Can Reinforce the Need for Legitimacy in Afghanistan.” Central Asian Survey 29, no. 2 (2010): 205-17.

Sections: Introduction; Non-State Justice in Afghanistan and the Question of its Engagement with the State; State Engagement with Non-State Justice in Kyrgyzstan during Tsarist, Soviet and Post-Soviet Times; How the Experience in Kyrgyzstan Can Reinforce the Need for Legitimacy in Afghanistan; Conclusion

“Central Asia.” In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Law, edited by Jonathan Brown. New York: Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2012.

Sections: Introduction to Region, Kazakhstan, The Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan), Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Bibliography

Merrell, David E. “Kyrgyzstan’s Constitution and Islam.” In Oxford Islamic Studies Online, edited by John L. Esposito. New York: Oxford University Press, forthcoming Spring 2012.

Molkner, Keith. “A Comparison of the Legal Regimes for Foreign Investment in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgystan.” International Tax and Business Lawyer 11, no. 1 (1993): 71-101.

Sections: Introduction; Background; Foreign Investment in Russia; Foreign Investment in Kazakhstan; Foreign Investment in Kyrgyzstan; Comparative Assessment; Bilateral Investment Treaties; Conclusion

Riazanovskii, Valentin Aleksandrovich. Customary Law of the Nomadic Tribes of Siberia. Bloomington: Indiana University, 1965.

Sections: Juristic Customs of the Kirghiz; Juristic Customs of the Ostyaks, Voguls and Samoyeds; Juristic Customs of the Altais and Teleuts; Juristic Customs of the Kuznetzk Tartars; Juristic Customs of the Buriats; Juristic Customs of the Tunguses; Juristic Customs of the Yakuts; Code of Steppe Laws of the Nomadic Tribes of Eastern Siberia; Conclusion (Fundamental Institutions of the Customary Law of the Nomadic Tribes of Siberia)

Satarkulova, Indira. “International Commercial Arbitration in the Kyrgyz Republic.” Vindobona Journal of International Commercial Law & Arbitration 10 (2006): 319-34.

Sections: Introduction; Application of international law in the legal system of the Kyrgyz Republic; The Commercial Court System in
the Kyrgyz Republic: Background and recent developments; International Arbitration Tribunal; Conclusion