By Osoro Nyawangah
The World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2020 has ranked Uganda the worst country in the East African region regarding observance of justice and rule of law.
The report ranks Uganda at number 117 globally
out of 128 countries, making it the worst performing country in the East
African region with Rwanda ranked the best, followed by Tanzania at 93 and
Kenya at 102 respectively.
The World Justice Project Rule of Law
Index is the world’s leading source for original, independent data on
the rule of law. Covering 128 countries and jurisdictions, the Index
relies on national surveys of more than 130,000 households and 4,000 legal
practitioners and experts to measure how the rule of law is experienced and
perceived worldwide.
Read the REPORT
The annual report released in Washington has
its rankings based on eight factors including constraints on government
powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and
security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice, and criminal justice.
The scores are derived from over 130,000
household surveys and 4,000 legal practitioner surveys across the globe.
More countries declined than improved in
overall rule of law performance for a third year in a row, continuing a
negative slide toward weakening and stagnating rule of law around the world.
The majority of countries showing
deteriorating rule of law in the 2020 Index also declined in the previous year,
demonstrating a persistent downward trend.
This was particularly pronounced in the Index
factor measuring Constraints on Government Powers.
The declines were widespread and seen in all
corners of the world. In every region, a majority of countries slipped backward
or remained unchanged in their overall rule of law performance since the 2019.
At a global level, countries experienced the
biggest declines over the past year in the areas of Fundamental Rights (54
declined, 29 improved), Constraints on Government Powers (52 declined, 28
improved), and Absence of Corruption (51 declined, 26 improved).
This is not a new pattern; WJP data shows the same three factors were the largest decliners over a five-year time horizon as well. Fundamental Rights showed the most backsliding with 67 countries dropping in score since 2015.
Civil Justice showed the most positive
movement over the previous year, with 47 countries improving versus 41
declining. Since 2015, Regulatory Enforcement has improved the most, with 65
countries improving versus 29 declining.
Denmark, Norway, and Finland topped the WJP
Rule of Law Index rankings in 2020. Venezuela, Cambodia, and
DR Congo had the lowest overall rule of law scores—the same as in 2019.
Countries in the top
ten of the Index in overall rule of law score remain unchanged since our last
report in 2019. This year, for the first time, the United States fell out of
the top 20 countries, replaced by Spain. France fell from 17 to 20, with
Singapore trading places with United Kingdom, moving from 13 to 12.
Countries with the
strongest improvement in rule of law were Ethiopia (5.6% increase in score,
driven primarily by gains in Constraints on Government Powers and Fundamental
Rights) and Malaysia (5.1%, driven primarily by gains in Constraints on
Government Powers, Fundamental Rights, and Regulatory Enforcement).
The most downward
movement in the rule of law was seen in Cameroon (-4.4%, driven primarily by
falling scores in Order and Security and Fundamental Rights) and Iran (-4.2%,
driven primarily by falling scores in Criminal Justice).
Over the last five years, countries
experiencing the largest average annual percentage drop in the rule of law were
Egypt (-4.6 %), Venezuela (-3.9%), Cambodia (-3.0%), Philippines (-2.5%),
Cameroon (-2.4%), Hungary (-2.1%), and Bosnia and Herzegovina (-2.1%).
The single biggest decline by factor over the
past five years was Egypt’s and Poland’s score for Constraints on Government
Powers, with an average annual decline of -8.5% and -6.8%, respectively.
Countries leading their regions in overall
rule of law scores were: Nepal (South Asia), Georgia (Eastern Europe and
Central Asia); Namibia (Sub-Saharan Africa); Uruguay (Latin America and the
Caribbean); United Arab Emirates (Middle East and North Africa); New Zealand
(East Asia and Pacific), and Denmark (Western Europe and North America, defined
as EU + EFTA + North America). - Africa
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