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SINGAPORE: Singapore's judicial system has performed well in studies conducted by several reputable international organisations.
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew touched on these ratings during a question-and-answer session on Sunday.
He was addressing some 3,500 lawyers from all over the world who have come to Singapore for the International Bar Association's conference.
A UK participant said his country is obsessed with league tables in several areas of public service and asked the minister mentor: "Where do you see Singapore in the league table on the rule of law?"
Mr Lee replied: "I am not prone to self-elevation. So I will leave others to judge where I am placed in the league of tables. But my secretary had anticipated such a question being put and so he had provided me with a batch of surveys on the Singapore judiciary and the legal system."
Among the surveys is one by the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC).
This year, it ranked Singapore in the top three positions for judicial systems in Asia, together with Hong Kong and Japan.
And in PERC's comparative risk report for this year, Singapore retained its ranking as the overall least risky country in Asia.
The PERC report also pointed out that Singapore and Hong Kong are the only two systems in Asia that have judiciaries which are rated on par with those in developed Western societies.
There are three essential elements of judicial independence: the courts and individual judges are publicly perceived to be impartial in their decisions; the judicial decisions are accepted by the contesting parties and larger public; judges are perceived to be free from undue interference from other branches of government.
Singapore was also ranked tops in another report – the World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators. This report covers six dimensions, including the rule of law.
Among nine Commonwealth countries, Singapore was ranked number three, after New Zealand and Canada.
- CNA/so
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