BANGLADESH’S ranking has slipped to 115th from 112th a year ago in the rule of law index, drawn up by the US-based World Justice Project. The index ranks and compares 128 countries to shed light on how the rule of law is experienced and perceived worldwide. Among the six South Asian countries, Bangladesh ranked fourth as Nepal ranked 61st, Sri Lanka 66th and India 69th. Rights experts said that the report reflects the reality in Bangladesh. It perfectly translates into the “we demand justice” slogans that echoed in the years amid the sheer nonexistence of Rules of Law. One of the factors recognises that a system of positive law that fails to respect core human rights has been established here. And it does not deserve to be called a rule of law which was a durable system. Another factor measured how well a society ensures the security of persons and property. Security is one of the defining aspects of any society where the rule of law exists and it is also a fundamental function of the state.
As per the marks given by WJP, the main factor is whether ordinary people can resolve their grievances peacefully and effectively through the civil justice system. In this factor, Bangladesh took 119th position among the countries. The scores and rankings are based on more than 500 variables drawn from the assessments of more than 130,000 households and 4,000 legal practitioners and experts in 128 countries and jurisdictions. The top three overall performers in the WJP Rule of Law Index 2020 are Denmark, Norway and Finland respectively while the bottom three countries were the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cambodia and Venezuela. Demand for justice is high in Bangladesh due to injustice, impunity, government intervention and high levels of corruption in the judicial system. The recent intervention of the government in transferring a judicial magistrate in Pirojpur was a slap on the notion of Rules of Law.
We think gradation of rule of law makes no sense. You cannot have the rule of law in any part of Bangladesh. The fact is that the government being guided by bureaucracy does care to ensure the rule of law where it is inconvenient.
As per the marks given by WJP, the main factor is whether ordinary people can resolve their grievances peacefully and effectively through the civil justice system. In this factor, Bangladesh took 119th position among the countries. The scores and rankings are based on more than 500 variables drawn from the assessments of more than 130,000 households and 4,000 legal practitioners and experts in 128 countries and jurisdictions. The top three overall performers in the WJP Rule of Law Index 2020 are Denmark, Norway and Finland respectively while the bottom three countries were the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cambodia and Venezuela. Demand for justice is high in Bangladesh due to injustice, impunity, government intervention and high levels of corruption in the judicial system. The recent intervention of the government in transferring a judicial magistrate in Pirojpur was a slap on the notion of Rules of Law.
We think gradation of rule of law makes no sense. You cannot have the rule of law in any part of Bangladesh. The fact is that the government being guided by bureaucracy does care to ensure the rule of law where it is inconvenient.
