4 Conclusions
And what of the future? In assessing the potential relevance of common law for future Burma, it must be appreciated that Burma's recent legal history demonstrates significant departure from the common law system.

- In contrast to other former colonies and countries using common law (eg. India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Australia) where many of the concepts used at independence are still similar to practices now, this is not the case in Burma. Burma's court system has changed significantly (at vari ous times).
- The sources of law have changed over time, with judges directed to and using, various sources to find 'the law'. The legal structure changed - currently there is no official recognition of a separation of powers, and therefore no independent judiciary.

Thinking about the common law's role is relevant to Burma because, if there is a return to the rule of law, there may be an opportunity or necessity to decide what the law and legal system will be. There are different views as to the relevance of the common law to the future of Burma's law. A UK academic considers that "future Burmese law will be no closer to the English common law than is the law of Thailand and Cambodia".⁶³ That may be true - without significant change, the common law will have little relevance to Burma's courts and legal system. Certainly the lack of knowledge of, or access to, court decisions makes it difficult for the common law's principles of precedent to function. It is difficult to see how common law concepts can be used directly in
Burma's current legal system. In tracing these concepts' development or modification, we can see many of them have been taken into the Burma Code or other statutory provisions. The court, as the body through which the common law operates, needs to have the jurisdiction to be able to use common law concepts. The current Supreme Court cannot trace an unbroken history back to earlier times which would support its use of the common law. The Court's jurisdiction is as set out in the military's establishing law - a law that, when viewed in total, provides little room for the common law to operate.

But perhaps parts of the common law can be reintroduced through statutory or constitutional provisions. Particular areas for attention could include

• improving judicial independence and the rule of law (eg. through use of a constitution, observing the separation of powers, stronger judiciary, reduced interference of court cases etc);
• re-introducting certain common law rules through statute; and
• better availability of court decisions. Through developments such as these, there may be potential for renewed use of common law principles.
  
  

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