Singapore's judiciary regularly ranks amongst the best in the world, at least for commercial disputes. The World Bank's Judiciary-Led Reforms in Singapore: Framework, Strategies, and Lessons explains how this happened, with an emphasis on Singapore's judicial reforms during the 1990s. It's short, easy to read, and has an excellent executive summary. However, at times author Waleed Malik seems to go into "business-school" mode, focusing on organizational reform theory. For such a short study, I would have preferred more discussion of the behind-the-scenes politics of the reform, such as the roles and interests of Lee Kuan Yew and other stakeholders. I think this book will be useful for scholars and practitioners in the rule of law field, although it doesn't address the key question of interest to this blog, namely overcoming political resistance to reform.
Critics agree that much of Southeast Asia desperately needs judicial reform and rule of law. Yet, there is remarkably little comparative scholarship on law and legal institutions in the region. In this blog, I'll follow constitutional developments in Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, as well as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
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