A Scientometric Study:

The Trends of Legal Officers and Abuse of Citizens' Rights

  • Musramaini Mustapha Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Pahang
  • Suria Fadhillah Md Pauzi Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Pahang
  • Azniza Ahmad Zaini Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Pahang
  • Firdaus Habib Mohd Kolej Komuniti Bukit Mertajam, Pulau Pinang
  • Shamsinar Rahman Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Pahang
Keywords: scientometric study, legal officer, misconduct, abuse of power, citizens' rights

Abstract

This article analyses legal officers' responsibilities and duties in the context of protecting citizens' rights, notably in cases of public abuse and misuse of power. Legal officers, who are entrusted with upholding the rule of law, play an important role in protecting citizens' rights. However, frequent examples of misconduct and abuse of power on the part of these officers raise serious concerns about the impartiality of the legal process and the sufficiency of protection conferred by law to the citizens. Thus, this study highlights some trends related to the issues based on this empirical finding. This article surveys the trends of academic articles on this topic, focusing on the year of publication, country of prolific publishing, productive department affiliations, productive publishers, and productive research areas using Excell for descriptive analysis and Citespace for Scientometric analysis. UiTM's Faculty of Law and Uppsala University's Disciplinary Domain of Constitutional law and business economics are among the research areas that have contributed immensely to this discourse. In addition, the protection of the fundamental rights of citizens is also featured as a significant issue. This study also reflects on various academic outputs captured in the Web of Science (WOS) database. This study contributes to the literature by providing a comprehensive Scientometric analysis of research trends on legal officer misconduct, abuse of power, and citizens' rights. The bibliometric techniques identify key research clusters and offer valuable insights to scholars and policymakers by identifying and discussing gaps from the academic framework.

Published
2026-01-31