| Font Size |
The 'Rule of Law Index 2012' report by World Justice Project's provides country-by-country scores and rankings for eight areas of the rule of law.
India, the report said, has a robust system of checks and balances (ranked thirty-seventh worldwide and second among lower middle income countries), an independent judiciary, strong protections for freedom of speech, and a relatively open government (ranking fiftieth globally and fourth among lower-middle income countries).
"Administrative agencies do not perform well (ranking 79th) and the civil court system ranks poorly (ranking 78) mainly because of deficiencies in the areas of court congestion, enforcement, and delays in processing cases," the report said.
"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)," the report observed.
According to the report, 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," it said.
"On the other hand, violence and human rights violations related to the legacy of a protracted civil conflict are
serious problems," the report said.
Pakistan shows weaknesses in most dimensions when compared to its regional and income group peers, the report said.
"Low levels of government accountability are compounded by the prevalence of corruption, a weak justice system, and a poor security situation, particularly related to terrorism and crime," it said, adding that Pakistan scores more strongly on judicial independence and fairness in administrative proceedings.
We don't have to suddenly wake up to the call of some international poll, our popular media both in print and broadcast, should have noticed it in its early stages after an "unskilled" and "inexperienced" group of people together with a docile bureaucracy inherited from the past was put in charge of the so called "free" country and its people stranded for centuries in a typical passivity only found in Indian sub-continent and grossly ill prepared for the modern world. Now after sixty-five years without real leaders in government, bureaucracy, and society, everyone in the country is like resting on quicksand ready to be swallowed alive if one moved. I have mingled with a variety of individuals during my travels from my village in Jalandhar District in Punjab to southern most Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu. I guess they are all happy and contented people like their ancestors under foreign rule only if they were not "exposed" to goodness in democracy enjoyed in the West!
