ATTACHMENT TRIP REPORT TEMPLATE Please finalize and hand this Trip Report to the Project Chief of Party before departing. The description in Paragraph 5 should not be more than 2 pages. Please list and attach any written deliverables under your contract finalized before departure and list the estimated delivery dates for the remaining written deliverables that will be finalized after departure. This instruction can be deleted when submitting the report.

1. Project Name

Promoting the Rule of Law in Myanmar

2. Consultant Name

Dr Melissa Crouch

3. Dates of Consultancy

4 to 15 August 2014

4. Names and Dates of Counterparts met during Consultancy

Monday 4 August 2014 Meeting with Jason and Mitch, Tetra Tech DPK, Yangon [travelled from Yangon to Naypyidaw, 4 August] Meeting with U Mya Thein, Constitutional Tribunal member, Naypyidaw

Tuesday 5 August 2014, Naypyidaw U Sein Than, Director General, Supreme Court, and six other law officers of the Supreme Court, Naypyidaw

Wednesday 6 August 2014, Naypyidaw Meeting with Daw Ni Ni Aye, Head of Research Department of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, Meeting with U Kyaw San, Director General, and Daw Yu Yu Khin, Deputy Director, Writs Department, Union Attorney General’s Office, Naypyidaw [Note: I was unable to meet with U Saw Pi Phoe, Director of Division for the Prosecution of the Union Level Organisations and Departments (‘Writs Department’) as he was in Thailand]

Thursday 7 August, Mandalay [travelled from Naypyidaw to Mandalay, 7 August] Meeting with U Hla Ko, chairperson of Myanmar Legal Aid Network, head of Mandalay Law Firm, author of several law textbooks and well-known senior advocate Meeting with U Khin Maung Than, author of several law textbooks and well-known advocate

Friday 8 August, Mandalay Visit to Daw Tin Ei Htay, Head of Department, and staff members at the Law Department, Mandalay University. I gave a lecture on Administrative Law, attended by 20 staff, 60 masters students and 20 LLB students.

1

Saturday 9 August 2014, Mandalay Meeting with U Ko Ko Twe, advocate and member of Bar Association Attended International Human Rights training workshop by Justice for All Law Firm, and met with 20 lawyers from Mandalay who attended the workshop

Sunday 10 August 2014 [travelled from Mandalay to Yangon, 10 August 2014] Meeting with Daw Hnin Hnin, Yangon University Law Department

Monday 11 August 2014, Yangon Meeting with Robert Sann Aung, senior advocate. Visit to four courts in Yangon including: Mingalartaungnyunt Township Court, Kyaukthada Township Court, Rangoon West District Court, and Pamedan Township Court. This included meeting judges, court staff and public prosecutors in each of these locations.

Tuesday 12 August 2014, Yangon Meeting with Daw Khine Phone and U Htun Than, Yangon University Law Department (note: the head of department was away) Meeting with U Ko Ni, senior advocate. Meeting with Legal Aid Myanmar (formerly known as Youth Legal Clinic), including Nay Win, Hla Hla Yee (director) and Kyaw Lu Htun

Wednesday 13 August 2014, Yangon Meeting with Free Legal Aid, Benjamin Wagner and Albert Zaw Min, senior advocate and board member of Yangon Bar Association, Yangon Meeting with U Maung Maung Soe, senior advocate, Yangon

Thursday 14 August 2014, Yangon Visit to several courts in Yangon including: Yangon Division High Court, South Yangon District Court, and Thanlyin Township Court in Yangon Region, Thursday 14 August. I was accompanied the entire day by Daw Nang Sandar San, director of Yangon High Court; Daw Suu Nge; Daw Yin Yin Han, Deputy Director of Yangon High Court; Daw Than Than Lwin, Deputy Director of the High Court; U Tin Hlat, township judge; and Zaw Zaw Tun, Judge of South Yangon District Court.

Meeting with General Administration Department, Hlaing Township, Thursday 14 August 2014 Meeting and debrief with Mitch and Ban Aung, DPK Tetra Tech, Thursday 14 August 2014

Friday 15 August 2014 [returned to Singapore]

5. Description of Consultancy  Please include an assessment of the impact of your consultancy and any suggestions you may have for project activities. [no more than 2 pages]

Please note that my full assessment is included in the report attached, so here I will only provide a brief summary of meetings held in-country.

2

The in-country consultancy trip was essential to obtain current information on administrative law practices and institutions in Myanmar.

The visit to Naypyidaw was vital in order to obtain current information from the UAGO and USC on the constitutional writs and administrative law processes generally, as well as to have initial discussions about the possibility of future workshops and collaboration.

The meetings in Mandalay with the legal profession was extremely useful because many senior law advocates are based in Mandalay and they have brought cases on the constitutional writs to the Supreme Court, as well as been consulted by the government in this area. The visit to Mandalay Law Department was also very encouraging and confirmed that resources must be dedicated to the law departments, particularly beyond Yangon Law Department (which already has a number of partners)

The visits to courts at various levels in Yangon was very worthwhile and provided insight into the everyday operations of the courts. I would like to express my particular thanks to the Director General of the Supreme Court for facilitating these visits. These visits confirmed that the constitutional writs and administrative law is also a key issue for the lower courts, as cases brought to the Supreme Court concerning the writs are often in relation to decisions made by lower courts (and representatives of the relevant lower courts are usually required to attend these hearings in the Supreme Court). The meetings with members of the legal profession in Yangon, as well as legal aid NGOs such as the Legal Aid Clinic Myanmar, also provided important perspectives on the current situation. The visit to the General Administration department confirmed that there is a need to think beyond traditional legal institutions, as the GAD clearly plays a quasi-administrative role in implementing and overseeing laws and regulations at the local level.

6. Attachments

Please see attached the following documents  Attachment 1: Presentation given at Mandalay University Law Department

 Attachment 2: My complete comparative administrative law assessment and report

3