Rampant corruption, terrorism and poor law enforcement are reasons enough to drag down the effectiveness of a country’s legal system. The latest Rule of Law Index by World Justice Project (WJP) classified Pakistan amongst the countries that have the poorest rule of law as experienced in everyday life.
Before delving into factors that this independent body highlights as major concerns for Pakistan in the study, a look at its functions and workings would give readers a good understanding of its background. As the founder and CEO of WJP, William H. Neukom says: “The rule of law is the foundation for communities of opportunity and equity—-it is the predicate for the eradication of poverty, violence, corruption, pandemics and other threats to civil society.”
The index is based on surveys conducted in 99 countries around the globe with over 100,000 households, where adherence is measured along eight broad factors: government power, open government, absence of corruption, fundamental rights, regulatory enforcement, security, civil justice and criminal justice.
Not only does Pakistan rank one of the lowest around the globe (96/99), but also fifth among six regional countries in overall rule of law performance, leading only Afghanistan. At such a low rank, the country portrays weaknesses along most of the indicators; corruption in all government branches, ineffective enforcement, human rights’ violation in form of refusal to right to life and security of the people are all inhibitors to fair functioning of the society.
And, while the country’s independent judiciary, non-governmental checks and freedom of speech let it appear relatively better within the South Asian region, the reports cite poor law-and-order situation as the greatest challenge for Pakistan. It ranks the last in the world.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see Pakistan performing poorly in its legal system’s effectiveness next year as well, if corruption, terrorism and human rights’ violation continue at their current pace.
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