Sri Lanka out performs regional peers in civil justice

Sri Lanka leads its peers among the South Asian nations in most dimensions of the rule of law in guaranteeing access to all civil justice, a latest report released yesterday said.

The Rule of Law Index 2012 report released by the World Justice Project Wednesday said Sri Lanka outperforms its regional peers in all but two dimensions of the rule of law.

The country also outpaces most lower-middle income countries in several areas, ranking second in criminal justice, and third in the dimensions of open government, effective regulatory enforcement, and absence of corruption, the report said.

The report provides country-by-country scores and rankings for eight areas of the rule of law.

Among the South Asian nations - India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, Sri Lanka placed in the top in six areas - Absence of Corruption, Fundamental Rights, Open Government, Regulatory Enforcement, Civil Justice, and Criminal Justice.

Sri Lanka fared poorly in Order and Security ranking at 89th place among the 97 countries surveyed. The country was second to India and globally 47th in the area of Limited Government Powers.

According to the Rule of Law Index violence and human rights violations related to the legacy of the protracted civil conflict are serious problems.

The report cited vigilante justice, delays and barriers to access civil justice, and lack of accessibility of official information as other areas of concern.

The report said South Asia, as a region, is the weakest performer overall in most dimensions of the rule of law, although many countries in the region have made efforts to strengthen governance.

According to the report, India, which ranked 78th overall among the 97 countries surveyed, has a robust system of checks and balances (ranked 37th worldwide and second among lower middle income countries), an independent judiciary, strong protections for freedom of speech, and a relatively open government (ranking 50th globally and 4th among lower-middle income countries).

However, administrative agencies do not perform well (ranking 79th), and the civil court system ranks poorly (ranking 78th), mainly because of deficiencies in the areas of court congestion, enforcement, and delays in processing cases. Corruption is a significant problem (ranking 83rd), and police discrimination and abuses are not unusual. Order and security - including crime, civil conflict, and political violence- is a serious concern (ranked second lowest in the world).