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Singapore has consistently performed well in international surveys conducted by the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD) and the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC). The Republic received top rankings in the categories "Legal and Regulatory Framework" and "Quality of Judicial System" respectively, clinching first place in the IMD survey and second in Asia in the PERC survey.

IMD

Singapore was ranked first in IMD's annual survey on "Legal and Regulatory Framework" for 2007. This year's survey included a total of 55 countries, and measured the extent to which the legal and regulatory framework of a country restricts or encourages the competitiveness of enterprises. Singapore was ranked first with a score of 8.65, while Hong Kong and Iceland ranked second and third respectively with scores of 8.16 and 7.22. Score gradings for IMD's survey range from zero to 10, where a higher score means that competitiveness of enterprises is more greatly encouraged in that country. IMD is an independent foundation which conducts research projects, management and development programmes, and publishes the annual World Competitiveness Yearbook.

PERC

In the Comparative Country Risk Report 2007 published by PERC, Singapore was ranked second out of 14 jurisdictions in Asia in the category for Quality of the Judicial System. The scores range from zero to 10, with zero being the best grade possible and 10 the worst. Singapore achieved a score of 1.88, slightly behind Hong Kong, which had a score of 1.78. Japan was ranked third in Asia with a score of 2.25.

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VISITS BY DISTINGUISHED GUESTS

Visits of Chief Justice Anton A. Ivanov, Supreme Commercial Court of the Russian Federation, anD the Honourable Murray Gleeson, AC, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia

The Supreme Court was honoured to host the visits of Chief Justice Anton A. Ivanov of the Supreme Commercial Court of the Russian Federation from 27 February - 1 March 2007, and the Honourable Murray Gleeson, AC, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia on 19 September 2007.

During the visits, Chief Justice Ivanov and Chief Justice Gleeson were given presentations and tours of the Supreme Court building. Demonstrations of the Digital Transcription System, the Electronic Queue Management System and the courts' hearing and management workflows using the Electronic Filing System were also included in the visit. Chief Justice Ivanov also visited the Attorney-General's Chambers, the Insolvency and Public Trustee's Office, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Singapore Academy of Law and the Subordinate Courts.

Chief Justice Ivanov and Chief Justice Gleeson paid courtesy calls on the Chief Justice, who hosted lunches in their honour.

Chief Justice Gleeson was the guest speaker at the Singapore Academy of Law's 14th Annual Lecture, held on 20 September 2007.

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The supreme court also hosted the following delegations in 2007

18 Jan Visit of Mr P J Fitzpatrick, Chief Executive Officer and Mr John Coyle, Director of Infocomm Technology from the Irish Courts Service
13 Feb Visit of Professor Nathaniel E. Gozansky, School of Law, Emory University and Ms Elizabeth A. Johnson, Attorney at Law
  Visit of Professor Francis Reynolds, Emeritus Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford; Professor of Law Emeritus, University of Oxford
16 Feb Visit of Dr Djoko Utomo, Director General, National Archives of Indonesia, and delegation
27 Feb – 1 Mar Visit of Chief Justice Anton A. Ivanov, Supreme Commercial Court of the Russian Federation, and delegation
26 Mar Visit of delegation from Her Majesty's Courts Service (HMCS), United Kingdom
  Visit of Mr Thomas C. Baxter, Jr., General Counsel and Executive Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
2 Apr Courtesy call on the Chief Justice by the High Commissioner of India to Singapore, HE Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
11 Apr Visit by Mr Doan Manh Giao, Chairman, Minister of Office of the Government, Vietnam, and delegation
17 Apr Visit of Attorney-General of Bhutan, Mr Damcho Dorji, and Assistant Attorney-General, Mr Pushto Wangdi, Bhutan
19 Apr Visit of Mr Sultan N. S. Bouresli, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Kuwait, and delegation
3 May Courtesy call on the Chief Justice by the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Singapore, HE Mdm Zhang Xiaokang
10 May Visit of HE Bin Chhin, President of the Cambodian Constitutional Council, Cambodia, and delegation
28 May Visit of Sir Noel Plunkett Power, President of the Court of Appeal, Brunei
6 Jun Visit of Mr Davone Vangichit, Member of the Laos National Assembly and Vice-Chair of the Law Committee, and delegation
6 Jul Visit of Professor Irwin Cotler, Speaker for the Law Society’s Inaugural Biennial Lecture
18 Jul Courtesy call on the Chief Justice by Acting Chief Justice of Fiji, A.H.C.T Gates
19 Jul Courtesy call on the Chief Justice by HE Paul Madden, the British High Commissioner
30 Jul Visit of HE Mohammed Bin Nakhira Al Daheri, Minister of Justice, United Arab Emirates, and delegation
31 Jul Visit of Justice Louis Theodor Christian Harms from the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Singapore Office, Judge of Appeal (Acting Deputy President) of the Supreme Court of South Africa
2 Aug Visit of the Honourable Dato' Seri Mohamed Nazri Tan Sri Abdul Aziz, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Malaysia, and delegation
16 Aug Visit of Mr Fernando Pombo, President of the International Bar Association
28 Aug Visit of HE Dr Ali Bin Fetais Al-Marri, Attorney-General of Qatar, and delegation
5 Sep Visit of Lord Norman Foster and Lady Foster
19 Sep Visit of the Honourable Murray Gleeson, AC, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia
25 Sep Courtesy call on the Chief Justice by the French Ambassador to Singapore, HE Pierre Buhler
9 Oct Courtesy call on the Chief Justice by the Ambassador of Mexico to Singapore, HE Juan Jose Gomez Camacho
15 Oct Visit of HE Mr Alfredo Prada, Minister of Justice of Madrid, Spain
16 Oct Visit of Professor Pierre Tercier, Chairman of the International Court of Arbitration, and delegation
18 Oct Courtesy call on the Chief Justice by Chief Justice Myron T. Steele, Chief Justice of Delaware, United States of America
9 Nov Visit of delegation from the Taipei Supreme Court
29 Nov Visit of senior court administrators from Nigeria
6 – 7 Dec Visit of delegation from the Supreme People’s Court, People’s Republic of China
10 Dec Visit of Ambassador Shunji Yanai, Judge from the International Tribunal for Law of the Sea (ITLOS)
19 Dec Visit of delegation from the Vietnam Lawyers’ Association (VLA)
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