Rights
2008 Constitution suspended under emergency rule since February 2021
The 2008 Constitution reserved a quarter of legislative seats for the military and gave it an effective amendment veto. Since the coup of 1 February 2021 the State Administration Council has governed under a declared state of emergency, and constitutional guarantees are not being enforced.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Nominally a union with seven regions and seven states. In practice large areas are controlled by ethnic armed organisations administering their own justice systems, and the writ of Naypyidaw courts does not run there.
Governing law
- Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar2008
- State of Emergency declarations2021 onward
- Penal Code (s. 505A (inserted 2021))
In practice
Section 436 required more than 75 percent of the legislature to amend core provisions, which the 25 percent military bloc alone could block. Chapter VIII listed fundamental rights subject to laws enacted for security and public order. The Constitutional Tribunal existed but never checked military prerogatives. Since 2021 the Council has ruled by decree, section 505A has criminalised comment likely to cause fear or disrupt state employees, and closed-court proceedings inside prisons have been widely reported. Anyone advising on Myanmar should treat the constitutional text as a description of a suspended framework rather than of current practice.