Rwanda continued to lead Africa in the rule of law, a new report showed. It is called the World Justice Report and is produced annually by the World Justice Project (WJP), an international civil society organization with a stated mission of working to advance the rule of law around the world.
The WJP defines the rule of law as a resilient system of laws, institutions, norms, and community engagement that provides accountability, fair law, open governance, and accessible and impartial justice.
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The 2023 edition of the report showed that Rwanda was the best performer on the rule of law in Africa and came 41st in the world.
The report’s index offers independent data organized into eight factors that encompass the concept of the rule of law: limitations on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice, and criminal justice.
Rwanda performed best on indicators such as order and security, where it scored 0.85 out of 1, absence of corruption at 0.67, civil justice at 0.67 and limits on government powers at 0.61.
Mauritius, Namibia and Botswana were also top performers on the continent, coming in at 45th, 46th and 51st globally, respectively.
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Overall, the three best performing countries in the world were Denmark, Norway and Finland, while Venezuela, Cambodia and Afghanistan had the lowest overall rule of law scores.
The countries with the biggest improvement in the rule of law last year were Bulgaria (1.7%), Honduras (1.6%), Kenya (1.6%), Slovenia (1.6%) and Jordan (1.4%). The biggest decliners include Sudan (-7.4 percent), Mali (-5.3 percent), Islamic Republic of Iran (-5.0 percent), Nicaragua (-4.4 percent) and Afghanistan (-4.0 percent).
Commenting on the report, Harrison Mutabazi, a spokesman for Rwanda’s judiciary, said the country’s performance in the ranking was not surprising because “much has been done by the judiciary to strengthen the rule of law.”
He pointed to measures that include the use of IT in the administration of justice, promoting alternative dispute resolution in dispute resolution and emphasizing the principle of equality of all under the law as some of the things that have been done to make the justice system better.
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The rule of law is internationally recognized as fundamental to ensuring peace, justice, human rights, effective democracy and sustainable development.