By Politico staff writer
Sierra Leone has made progression in both global and regional rankings on the Rule of Law, according to the World Justice Project’s report for this year.
Sierra Leone’s overall rule of law score rose by 1.2% this 2022 to be ranked 105th globally, out of 140 countries, making three positions improvement since 2021. The country is also ranked 16th out of 34 countries targeted by WPJ in the continent, and among the minority nations to see its Rule of Law Index score increase this year.
It’s been reported that 61% of the 140 countries covered by WJP saw a drop in adherence to the rule of law this year and generally a decline in the last five years.
Topping the African ‘region’ is Rwanda and ranked 42 globally, followed by Namibia and Mauritius. The three countries with the lowest scores in the region are Mauritania, Cameroon, and Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“In the last year, 20 out of 34 countries declined in Sub-Saharan Africa. Of those 20 countries, 15 had also declined in the previous year’’, WPJ reports.
The leading source of independent rule of law data states that globally, the top-ranked country in the Rule of Law Index is “Denmark, followed by Norway, Finland, Sweden, and the Netherlands”, whilst Venezuela, Cambodia, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Haiti accounted for the lowest scores..
“Some of the biggest global declines this year were in the Index factors associated with rising authoritarianism and the longer-term erosion of rule of law. This year, respect for fundamental rights declined in two-thirds of countries. Checks on government powers—such as oversight by the judiciary, legislature, and media—fell in 58% of countries this year’’, according to WPJ.
The global decline this year is also linked to the ‘’Civil Justice, largely due to continued pandemic-related delays, weakened enforcement, and rising discrimination in civil justice systems”.
‘’However, declines are less widespread and extreme than last year, when Covid shutdowns dramatically disrupted justice systems, and governments exercised emergency powers that curtailed civic freedoms and bypassed transparency mechanisms’’, the report states.
Index data shows that authoritarian trends that predate the pandemic—such as weaker checks on executive power and increased attacks on the media—continue to erode the rule of law globally.
According to WJP, its rule of law index “ draws on in-depth surveys with more than 154,000 everyday people and 3,600 legal practitioners and experts to measure rule of law across eight factors: Constraints on Government Powers, Absence of Corruption, Open Government, Fundamental Rights, Order and Security, Regulatory Enforcement, Civil Justice, and Criminal Justice. Factor scores are averaged to assign an overall rule of law score to each country’’..
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