'Bangladesh has worst civil justice'

Lovlu Ansar 
New York Correspondent 

Thu, Nov 29th, 2012 3:49 am BdST

New York, Nov 29 (bdnews24.com)—A report published by an international organisation said Bangladesh's civil justice system is the worst in the world. 

The 'Rule of Law Index 2012' published on Wednesday by the World Justice Project (WJP) said the country fared poorly in the eight areas including civil justice system that may influence establishment of rule of law. 

The WJP Rule of Law Index is a quantitative assessment tool designed to offer a comprehensive picture of the extent to which countries adhere to the rule of law, not in theory, but in practice. 

Bangladesh faces serious challenges in the dimensions of civil justice mainly because of the lengthy duration of cases and judicial corruption, the report said. 

In its third report, the organisation said, Bangladesh stands at 87th position in limited government powers, 89th in absence of corruption, 72nd in order and security, 87th in fundamental rights, 89th in open government, 90th in regulatory enforcement, 97th in civil justice and 83rd in criminal justice. 

The country scores poorly in government accountability and administrative agencies and courts are extremely inefficient and corrupt, the report said. 

The Washington-based organisation also identified human rights violations and police abuses as significant problems in Bangladesh. 

The report, however, said Bangladesh's best performance is in the area of order and security, where it ranks 72nd globally and ninth among low-income countries. 

The country has lower crime rates than many countries with higher levels of economic development, although mob justice is a persistent problem, it added. 

The WJP Rule of Law Index 2012 was prepared based on more than 400 variables drawn from the assessments of more than 97,000 people and 2,500 local experts in 97 countries and jurisdictions. 

The report said Sri Lanka was in a leading role among the south Asian nations. 

The organisation's founder William H Neukom said it is a big challenge for countries to achieve success in establishing the rule of law. 

He said every country had made progress to some extent in the fields and added that the index was not intended to show the countries down. Rather, the index intended at leading the countries to the path of correction. 

bdnews24.com/corr/zk/bd/2334h 

• Bangladesh in Rule of Law Index 2012