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O, Ryuji: How Judges Used the Dhammathats
) mostly under the reign of King Badon. e Yezajyo Hkondaw Hpyathton was not
recorded by the judges (Hkonmins) themselves, but their disciples (tabe). e judges
themselves, however, used to instruct the disciples while they recorded. e decisions,
therefore, reflected the judges’ ideas and views. On the other hand, disciples were
also well versed in the law of Dhammathat. e rules of the dhammathats, therefore,
were included in the records of the judicial decisions (Hpyathton) [See YKHP ,
(Preface)-hta].
. How did judges use the Dhammathat?
As we have stated above, the first part of the Yezajyo Hkondaw Hpyathton, which was
decided by Judge Maung Hmaing, consists of decisions (judgements) during the
reign of King Badon. All are dated at the end of each dispute. In general, each case
is described chronologically in such order as, () summary of the dispute, () statements
by both parties concerned, () remarks by the judge, () content of the judgement,
() brief statement at the end of the dispute with the date. e contents are as
follows: judgements (), (), (), (), () and () are related to “laws concerning
abusive language”; judgements (), (), (), () and () are related to “laws concerning
assault”; judgements (), (), (), (), (), (), () and () are related to
“laws concerning marital affairs”; judgements (), (), () and () are related to
“laws concerning violence”, such as, attacks of biers (=a platform on which a coffin
containing a corpse rests before burial), stone-throwing, chastisement, dacoity, and
destruction of property: judgements (), () and () are “laws concerning trade”:
judgements () and () are “laws concerning money lending”: others are on land
“judgements (), inheritance” (), “slave” (), and “household affairs” (). [YKHP
, pp.–].
It is well known that the Dhammathats were a major source of Myanmar law.
As was stated in Chapter II-, some enlightened Konbaung rulers, such as King
Alaunghpaya, King Badon and others, encouraged the judges to study the Dhammathats
conscientiously for deciding judicial cases. e preface to the Yezajyo Hkondaw
Hpyathton says; (We) realise that the process of deducing and deciding (the cases) is
in accordance with the principles of the Dhammathat through the study of the decisions
of the Yezajyo Hkondaw Hpyathton [YKHP , Preface-(hta)]. Shwe Baw, a late
Myanmar jurist, also pointed out: ‘e judgements show that the courts took great
care to follow the rules of Dhammathats. Although they quote the Jatakas and sometimes
the Vinaya, it was only to fortify the grounds of decisions which they gave based
solely on the rules of the Dhammathats’ [Shwe Baw , p.]. We do not question
this fact.
However, through analysis of the process toward the decision-making in the
judgements mentioned above, we also get the impression that the guiding principle
for the judge at the court of Yezajyo was to make judgement with reference to all the
available sources of law for better and even the best judgement. It seems that the