Burma’s Constitution

This is an attempt to study and interpret the Constitution of the Union of Burma which has now passed its tenth year. A constitution read outside the context of constitutional history is incomplete, and I have, therefore, tried to trace the developments which culminated in the constitution; then study its important features with reference, where necessary, to the background in which they took shape and form; and, while studying how the constitution has been working, touch lightly on contemporary events and trends. It is a vast canvas I am trying to cover and what I am able to draw on it would inevitably be sketchy. But I do not write as a historian whose focus is on detail in a narrow area. Rather, having dug and gathered the facts, I trace their sweep in history. The details I willingly and happily leave to the historians, hoping only that my study will be of some use to them, if only as a target for their learned criticism. Some of the events and people I describe are still too near, and a clear perspective is therefore difficult. What is nearest appears biggest, and I often find it tempting to see and accept that Burma's history as a new independent nation began with the students' strike of 1936 or the resistance movement during the Second World War.

I. The Story of the Constitution.- I. Annexation and British Rule.- 1. Death of a Dynasty.- 2. Pacification.- 3. Education and Ideas.- 4. YMBA enters Politics.- 5. The GCBA.- 6. Dyarchy.- 7. The’ saya San’ Rebellion.- 8. Separation from India.- 9. The Government of Burma Act.- 10. Young Heralds of a New Age.- 11. The ‘Year of Revolution’.- 12. The Coming of War.- II. War and Japanese Occupation.- 1. The Burma Independence Army.- 2. Military Administration.- 3. Independence.- 4. Resistance.- III. Liberation and Fulfilment.- 1. Return to Rangoon.- 2. Aung San and the AFPFL.- 3. The Rise of Hope.- 4. Drafting the Constitution.- 5. Fulfilment.- II. The Constitution at Work.- I. Form of State.- The Choice of Democracy.- II. Fundamental Rights.- 1. Citizenship.- 2. Equality and Freedom.- 3. Religious Freedom.- 4. Economic Rights.- 5. Constitutional Remedies.- III. Peasants and Workers.- 1. Land Nationalization.- 2. Workers.- IV. Directive Principles of State Policy.- 1. ‘Pyidawtha’.- 2. Economic Planning.- 3. Science and Culture.- V. The President.- 1. The First Citizen.- 2. Powers and Privileges.- VI. Parliament.- 1. The Popular Will.- 2. Law-making.- 3. Powers and Privileges.- VII. The Union Government.- 1. Political Parties.- 2. Legal Structure.- 3. The Attorney-General.- 4. The Auditor-General.- 5. The Services.- 6. The Defence Services.- VIII. The Union Judiciary.- 1. Independence of the Judiciary.- 2. Organization and Functions.- IX. The States.- 1. The Choice of Federation.- 2. The Shan State.- 3. The Kachin State.- 4. The Karen State.- 5. The Kayah State.- 6. The Chin Special Division.- 7. New States.- 8. Secession.- X. Amendment of the Constitution.- XI. International Relations.- 1. The Ideal.- 2. The Law.- 3. The Practice.- XII. General Provisions.- 1. The National Flag.- 2. Official Language.- 3. Foreign Capital.- 4. The Public Service Commission.- 5. Interpretation.- XIII. Transitory Provisions.- 1. State Succession.- 2. Provisional Matters.- Epilogue.- Postscript.- Appendices.- I. Opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown on Annexation of Burma.- II. The constitution of Burma under Japanese occupation.- III. The Panglong Agreement, 1947.- IV. Draft constitution approved by the AFPFL convention, May, 1947.- V. Members of the constitution drafting committees, and staff, Constituent Assembly.- VI. Prime Minister U Nu’s motion in the Constituent Assembly to adopt the constitution September 24, 1947.- VII. The Constitution of the Union of Burma, with amendments.- VIII. The Constitution Amendment Act, 1951.- IX. Chronology of Events.