In light of the pace of economic change and the financial crisis of the late 1990s, law and policy reform (LPR) is extremely important in Asia. How does both institutional strengthening and legal and judicial reform impact on development objectives? What strategies work most successfully? This Statement was given by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to the 2001 World Bank Conference on Law and Justice. It highlights the impact of LPR on governance, sustainable economic development, private sector work, environment and corruption. Country highlights emphasise institutional strengthening in the Philippines, legal and judicial reform in Pakistan, and land law changes in Cambodia. These all display positive effects of a systemic approach. By contrast, Tajikistan is surmised to be suffering from corruption and the absence of foreign investment for failing to provide information on new laws.
Whilst the Statement primarily acknowledges the successes of LPR on development objectives, failures, important constraints and future directions are highlighted in terms of medium- and long-term strategies. Further conclusions from the Statement are that:
- Effective independence of the judiciary is seen as the cornerstone of successful reform. However, a strong legal system is not enough without strong enforcement
- Increasing transparency and knowledge of legal information is seen as vital for market based reform
- Financially, there is a need to combat money laundering and to enhance capacity to deal with insolvency and secured transactions
- The ADB takes a systemic approach to LPR. Hence, the scope includes technical assistance, administration, and training and education to aid efficiency and accountability.
The role of LPR on ADB’s developmental objectives has impacted on five key policy areas: Governance, sustainable economic development, private sector work, environment and corruption. Specifically these include:
- The need for an independent judiciary. This involves strengthening the structures of legal institutions, as in the Philippines, and rules governing different branches of government, as in Pakistan
- The implementation of new land laws, as in Cambodia in 2000, is aligned to poverty alleviation. Benefits of land reform are seen to include an end to vulnerability of poor farmers and to attract foreign direct investment
- Pro-poor judicial reform should be sufficiently broad to include legal aid, dispute resolution, decentralisation and legal information
- Inter-agency coordination of the LPR programme in developing countries across Asia.
- Staff in other multilaterals and bilaterals must be aware of projects that are similar in nature and should avoid duplication in the provision of technical assistance.
