The rule of law thrives best in wealthy nations like Sweden and the Netherlands but is dismal in poorer countries like Pakistan, Kenya, and Liberia, according to the Rule of Law Index released by the World Justice Project (WPJ).
The Rule of Law Index, which assessed 35 countries around the world, noted that high-income countries generally respect the rule of law more than poor countries. At the same time, however, it found wide differences in performance on specific variables within and between countries of varying incomes.
The World Justice Project released its Rule of Law Index (PDF) after three years of intensive development, testing, and vetting — including interviewing 41,000 people and over 900 experts in 35 countries. Data collection efforts are ongoing in 35 additional countries, for a total of 70 countries, which will be included in the 2011 Index report that is scheduled for release in June 2011. The Index will cover 100 countries by 2012.
Countries in Western Europe and North America fare better than others on most counts. They are characterised by low levels of corruption, with open and accountable governments, and effective criminal justice systems. In most cases, countries in Western Europe are better than the United States. Sweden, the Netherlands, Austria and France ranked best in terms of absence of corruption and access to civil justice. But, most Western European countries do not do well in providing opportunities for the public to voice their concerns and participate in the law-making process. In both Western Europe and North America, the report said, accessibility of the civil justice system is not up to the mark. In access to legal counsel, the US ranked 20th, while Sweden was 17th.
While many countries in the Latin America - Caribbean region are head-to-head in protecting freedom of thought, most Latin American countries have the highest crime rates in the world. This, the report felt, may be related to the generally poor performance of the criminal investigation and adjudication systems (police investigators, prosecutors and judges).
In East Asia and the Pacific, wealthier nations are better than others. Singapore is the best in providing security and access to civil justice to its citizens, but ranks very low in open government, limited government powers, and fundamental rights. Japan performs well in most dimensions, but faces several challenges in access to justice. Indonesia ranks fairly high on the clarity of its laws, but poorly on corruption and access to civil justice. The Philippines falls within the bottom half of the rankings, even when compared to similarly situated countries, particularly with regard to stable laws, access to justice, and corruption.
Only two countries in South Asia were studied, with India being better than Pakistan on all counts.
Most countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia fell in the middle of the Index rankings. Poland is the leading country here. Croatia and Bulgaria performed well on public security, but were low on the effectiveness of the criminal system. Turkey showed a decent performance on the effectiveness of the judicial system, but efforts are still required in the areas of fundamental rights, particularly as regards freedom of opinion and expression, and freedom of religion.
Only two countries in the Middle East and North Africa region were studied, with Jordan being marginally better than Morocco.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa fared best. It is well positioned in accountability, regulatory enforcement, and access to justice, but the challenge comes from the lack of security and the prevalence of crime. Ghana, on the other hand, has reasonable checks and balances, but is down in terms of regulatory enforcement and corruption. Kenya, Liberia, and Nigeria suffer from a rule of law deficit.
The Index looked at 10 dimensions of the rule of law: limited government powers; absence of corruption; clear, publicised and stable laws; order and security; fundamental rights; open government; regulatory enforcement; access to civil justice; effective criminal justice; and informal justice. These were broken down into 49 subfactors. The project measured the extent to which countries adhere to the rule of law —not in theory but in practice.
