by Janelle M. Diller, Legal Director International Human Rights Law Group, December 14, 1991 Oxford, England. "We find ourselves in an era of accelerated change. Many nations around the world, including Mongolia, Nepal and the countries of Eastern Europe, are thrusting themselves into the process of democratization and democratic constitution-making. Such momentum persists even though, in many cases, democracy has not been a part of the political, social, economic or legal infrastructures of the changing countries. Yet in Burma, nearly one and a half years after the peaceful election of a People's Assembly, the people of Burma continue to be governed by the ruling military State Law and Order Restoration Council ("SLORC"). The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Aung San Suu Kyi this week has helped dispel the prevailing complacency in the international arena with regard to the current situation in Burma. However, just and equitable governance continues to evade the people of Burma. Into the SLORC-controlled environment in which an electoral mandate continues to be withheld and reports of human rights abuses appear with disturbing frequency, the SLORC has announced a plan for arriving at a national consensus which will pave the way for a new constitution to be drafted. How can the Burmese people exercise such a supreme act of popular sovereignty under these conditions? And what international legal standards govern the constitution-making process and its result? Let me briefly review events leading up to the present scenario in order to provide insight into the complexities involved in the establishment of a constitutional culture in Burma. The term 'constitutional culture' here refers to the capacity of political, social and legal infrastructures to cultivate and practice a respect for some sort of supreme law of the land that governs both rulers and governed. Such a culture nurtures both individual and institutional respect for the rule of law..."