Study finds corruption rife in Asian justice<\/p>\n
Chris Foley
\nAgence France-Presse
\nSingapore<\/p>\n
Corruption and political interference are rife throughout police
\nand justice systems in Asia, according to a regional survey in
\nwhich only four countries headed by Singapore are viewed
\nfavorably.<\/p>\n
At the bottom of the heap is Indonesia where the \"whole legal
\nsystem is in desperate need of an overhaul,\" according to the
\nsurvey of expatriates by the Political and Economic Risk
\nConsultancy (PERC).<\/p>\n
In attempting to define a stereotype, PERC said in its latest
\nAsian Intelligence report that countries where the legal system
\nhas been graded most harshly \"are either relatively poor or under
\ncommunist control, or both\".<\/p>\n
Countries with roots in British Common Law ranked high with
\nthe exceptions of the Philippines and India, relatively poor
\ncountries \"and this has provided fertile ground for bureaucracy
\nand corruption\".<\/p>\n
Apart from Singapore and Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea
\nwhich both borrow from British law were the only other countries
\ngiven a pass mark by expatriates marking the legal system in
\ncountries where they work.<\/p>\n
In a strong criticism of China, PERC said the reason many
\npeople in the public and private sectors are willing to risk
\nquite draconian penalties for crime \"is a good indication that
\nthey do not feel particularly threatened about being caught or
\nprosecuted\".<\/p>\n
The judicial system in China was rated \"unreliable, vulnerable
\nto corruption and difficult to deal with\", and the ultimate
\nauthority in the country was the Communist Party and not the law.
\nThe report said there was a misconception that China's entry to
\nthe World Trade Organization would somehow make its legal system
\ncompatible with WTO rules in the short term.<\/p>\n
\"It is not simply a matter of changing laws, however, but of
\ntraining lawyers, judges and police and then making the
\nsystematic changes to remove the present system's idiosyncrasies.
\nThis will take years, if not decades.\"<\/p>\n
India's legal system was said to have been seriously hurt by
\ncorruption brought on by low levels of pay for the judiciary and
\npolice.<\/p>\n
Indonesia came in for the most scathing criticism with
\n\"corruption and political interference\" undermining a legal
\nsystem which has \"little integrity\".<\/p>\n
\"The bottom line is that Indonesia's whole legal system is in
\ndesperate need of an overhaul, but it is doubtful that the
\npresent government has the will or the ability to conduct such an
\nexercise.\"<\/p>\n
Of all the developing countries covered by the report, PERC
\nsaid Malaysia arguably has the best legal system and had largely
\novercome questions about its independence raised during the trial
\nof former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.<\/p>\n
\"Throughout this relatively controversial period, a lot of the
\ndebate over the integrity and independence of the legal system
\nwas carried out by lawyers and judges. This is therefore an
\nexample of the checks and balances that still exist in Malaysia.\"<\/p>\n
The same could not be said of Thailand where the legal system
\nhad deteriorated to the point that only Indonesia was worse.
\n\"The failure of successive governments to raise the performance
\nand ethics of the police force has become a national scandal,\"
\nPERC said.<\/p>\n
\"The police are under-educated and underpaid. They are still a
\nmajor engine of corruption.\"<\/p>\n
The report noted that Thai police have fleets of expensive
\nEuropean cars for routine work but almost no forensic experts.<\/p>\n
In the Philippines, police are involved in kidnappings and
\nmurders, and people feel so insecure that some areas are said to
\nhave set up their own militias.<\/p>\n
With the survey rating countries on a scale of one to 10,
\nSingapore was seen to have the best legal and police system with
\na rating of 1.7, followed by Hong Kong (2.9), Japan (3.67) and
\nSouth Korea (4.83).<\/p>\n
Of the countries which failed to reach the pass mark, Malaysia
\nwas rated at 6.29, then Taiwan (6.33), Vietnam (7.08), India
\n(7.33), China and the Philippines (7.78), Thailand (7.96) and
\nIndonesia (9.83).<\/p>\n
The survey also took in the United States and Australia as a
\nWestern barometer, with the United States topping the poll at
\n1.67 and Australia placed third with 1.82, just behind Singapore.<\/p>",
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