HK, Singapore best judicial systems, RI the worst<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, Singapore<\/p>\n
Hong Kong and Singapore have the best judicial systems in Asia,
\nwhile those of Indonesia and Vietnam suffer the worst, according
\nto a survey of expatriate business executives working in the
\nregion released Thursday.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong pipped Singapore for the top spot in this year's
\nsurvey by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC),
\ntoppling the rival city-state from its pole position in 2004.<\/p>\n
Foreign business leaders's perception of Indonesia's judicial
\nsystem worsened this year from a year ago, despite efforts by
\nPresident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to fight corruption, putting
\nthe country in the bottom of the rankings.<\/p>\n
PERC noted a "huge gap" between what countries say is the
\nlevel of independence of their judicial systems and what foreign
\ninvestors think.<\/p>\n
In ranking the countries or cities, the business executives
\ngave weight to how legal systems are used to enforce contracts,
\nresolve disputes, fight intellectual piracy and enforce
\nsecurities and exchange regulations.<\/p>\n
Places such as Hong Kong and Singapore whose judicial systems
\nhave been consistently ranked highly have emerged as major Asian
\nbusiness hubs, PERC noted.<\/p>\n
"It is no coincidence that in our own surveys of expatriates
\nworking in Asia, those countries that are graded the worst for
\nvariables like corruption and intellectual property rights risks
\nare the same ones graded very poorly for the quality of their
\npolice and judiciary," PERC said.<\/p>\n
In the PERC rankings, countries and cities were graded on a
\nscale from zero to 10, with zero being the best grade possible
\nand 10 the worst.<\/p>\n
Respondents were asked to rate quality of the court system and
\nthe police force, and the scores were averaged to get the overall
\nscores.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong emerged on top with a grade of 1.73, improving from
\nits 2.55 rating last year.<\/p>\n
Singapore, which had an overall grade of 1.25 in 2004, fell to
\na close second place with a score of 1.75.<\/p>\n
PERC said that despite criticisms by opposition politicians of
\nSingapore's judicial system, local politics hardly made a dent on
\nforeign investors' views.<\/p>\n
"Rather, they care about the way commercial law is practiced
\nand how normal crime is dealt with," it said.<\/p>\n
Japan was in third place, scoring 2.73, which is better than
\nits 3.93 performance a year ago. It was followed by South Korea,
\nwhose score of 3.96 improved from 5.67.<\/p>\n
Taiwan placed fifth in the rankings with a score of 5.07,
\nimproving from 5.55, while Malaysia came in sixth with a grade of
\n6.06, better than last year's 7.50.<\/p>\n
India was in seventh place with a score of 7.20, an
\nimprovement from 8.0 last year. Thailand placed eight with a
\ngrade of 7.65, better than 7.83 in 2004, followed by the
\nPhilippines in ninth place after its ratings fell sharply to 8.10
\nfrom 7.71.<\/p>\n
PERC said "few foreign investors feel very confident working
\nwith the legal system" in the Philippines where "laws are not
\nbuilt so much on precedents as on quicksand."<\/p>\n
China's ratings posted the most dramatic reversal, falling
\nfour notches to 10th place with a score of 8.15, as expatriates
\nbecame "increasingly critical" of the country's police and court
\nsystem, PERC said.<\/p>\n
China was in sixth place in last year's survey.<\/p>\n
"China has done a lot to improve the quality of its laws,
\nespecially those relating to commercial law... but the record of
\nenforcement is, at best, patchy. Arbitrary is probably a better
\ndescription," the Hong Kong-based PERC said.<\/p>\n
Vietnam was in 11th place, its score deteriorating to 8.40
\nfrom 8.04, while Indonesia was graded 8.85, worse than the 8.0 it
\ngot in 2004.<\/p>\n
Indonesian President Yudhoyono is fighting an uphill battle in
\nefforts to clean up the judicial system, PERC said.<\/p>\n
"The problem of corruption is too pervasive, and so many
\npeople and groups would be threatened by a thorough crackdown
\nthat it would probably be more destabilizing than helpful for the
\ncountry," it said.<\/p>\n
However, PERC said Yudhoyono's efforts have caused it and
\nother observers "to believe that the status quo might be
\nchanging."<\/p>",
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