Regional financial centers Hong Kong and Singapore have the best judicial systems in Asia, with Indonesia and Vietnam the worst, a survey of expatriate business executives showed.
The judiciary “is one of Indonesia’s weakest and most controversial institutions, and many consider the poor enforcement of laws to be the country’s number one problem,” said the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC).
Some court rulings in Indonesia have been “so controversial that they have seriously hurt confidence of foreign companies,” said PERC, without giving specific examples.
In the PERC survey, Hong Kong’s judicial system topped the vote with a score of 1.45 on a scale that has zero representing the best performance and 10 the worst.
Regional rival Singapore was in second place with a grade of 1.92, followed by Japan with 3.5, South Korea with 4.62, Taiwan with 4.93 and the Philippines with 6.1.
Malaysia was in seventh place, with a grade of 6.47, followed by India with 6.50, Thailand with 7 and China with 7.25.
Indonesia got the worst score, 8.26, after Vietnam’s 8.1.
The consultancy said 1,537 corporate executives working in Asia were asked to rate the judicial systems in the countries where they reside, using such variables as the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) and corruption.
Transparency, enforcement of laws, freedom from political interference and the experience and educational standards of lawyers and judges were also considered.
“Year after year our perception surveys show a close correlation between how expatriates rate judicial systems and how they rate the openness of a particular economy,” PERC said.
“Better judicial systems are associated with better IPR protection, lower corruption and wealthier economies.”
The less favorable perception of China’s and Vietnam’s judicial systems are rooted in political interference, PERC said, adding that the communist party “is above the law in both countries.”
Despite India and the Philippines being democracies, expatriates did not look favorably on their judicial systems because of corruption, PERC said.
Malaysia’s judicial system has suffered “serious reputation damage due to political interference,” while expatriates in Thailand “have serious doubts” that moves to expand the judiciary’s powers will be good for the country, it said.
PERC said the survey involved expatriate business executives, not political activists, so criteria like contracts and IPR protection were given more weight.
“This bias is possibly most obvious in Singapore,” it said, noting that the city-state’s top rating in the survey is not shared by political activists, who have criticized the ruling People’s Action Party for using the judiciary to silence critics.
“In Singapore, the general perception of expatriates is that local politics has not compromised the way commercial and criminal law is conducted,” PERC said.
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
INVESTMENT WATCH: The US activity would not affect the firm’s investment in Taiwan, where 11 production lines would likely be completed this year, C.C. Wei said Investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the US should not be a cause for concern, but rather seen as the moment that the company and Taiwan stepped into the global spotlight, President William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday alongside TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家). Wei and US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday announced plans to invest US$100 billion in the US to build three advanced foundries, two packaging plants, and a research and development center, after Trump threatened to slap tariffs on chips made
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT: The American Institute in Taiwan director said that the US would expand investment and trade relationships to make both nations more prosperous The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said. “The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday. The US would double down on its efforts
RSS