New Rule of Law Index Shows Low U.S.

Standing Among Developed Countries

Posted Saturday, October 16, 2010 :: Staff infoZine

By Adam Liebendorfer - A new report says that the U.S. system of justice, compared to those in other
wealthy democracies, could use some improvement. But the U.S. ranks high in open government.

Washington, D.C. - infoZine - Scripps Howard Foundation Wire - A new analysis has found the United States
justice system lags behind those of other wealthy democracies.

The Rule of Law Index, issued Thursday by the World Justice Project, indicated that, while the U.S. is a
leading country for government openness, it lacks in most other areas of justice.

“The rule of law is important to everyone globally,” said William C. Hubbard, WJP board chairman.

Of the 35 countries ranked, the U.S. placed third in government openness, seventh in effective criminal
justice and below seventh in all other factors.

In the categories of order and security, fundamental rights and access to civil justice, the U.S. ranked 11th.
The U.S. ranked last in Western Europe and North America for limited government powers, absence of
corruption, fundamental rights and access to civil justice. By contrast, Sweden placed below the top three in
only one category.

“I think this is an interesting index and it has some value, but I don’t think this is data or information that
provides any cause for alarm or concern in saying the U.S. doesn’t have the best justice system in the
world,” said Howard Fenton III, a law professor at Ohio Northern University and a respondent to the survey.

Fenton said it’s important to consider that “the index is trying to compare apples to apples.” While the U.S.
ranks lowest in access to civil justice among high-income countries, it still scores higher than Nigeria, which
is ranked highest in the same category among low-income countries.

“Part of it is we have a different legal culture than a lot of other countries listed,” he added.

Several countries, he said, have civil law systems instead of the common-law system used in the U.S. that’s
more “focused on the adversarial process.” Fenton also said the cost of litigating in the U.S. is a drawback to
the legal process.

WJP polled 35,000 citizens and more than 900 professionals from the each of the 35 countries’ three largest
cities. New York, Los Angeles and Chicago were selected for the U.S. The questionnaires included more than
700 answer choices.

Juan Carlos Botero, Rule of Law Index director, said the group acknowledged that surveying only in urban
areas affected the results.

“It is not about numbers. It is not about laws. It's about people,” he said.

The index does not include a composite score. Instead, it ranks each country on nine factors deemed
imperative for rule of law. University of South Carolina President Harris Pastides said that, by breaking down
scores instead issuing of an overall rating, the data can better help countries improve their justice systems.

“If the index had been used as a composite score, it would've been consumed very quickly as only a
ranking,” he said.

WJP’s sponsors include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Bar Association and the Hague
Institute for the Internationalisation of Law. Former president Jimmy Carter, retired South African
archbishop Desmond Tutu, former U.S. secretary of state Colin Powell and others were honorary chairs.

Results from the index’s pilot program were released in 2008, when researchers examined six countries’
justice systems. The group published a second version, which included preliminary data from the 35
countries polled.

The new study analyzed nine major criteria, including the absence of corruption and government openness.
Hubbard said the index is one of WJP’s three main goals. The group aims to create a universal definition and
application for the rule of law and to study how the law is applied in different situations. Previously, the
World Justice Project studied the relationship between rule of law and “economic, political and social
development.” Amartya Sen and James Heckman, who won Nobel Prizes in economics, led the study,
according to the group’s website.

The 35 countries in the survey account for about 45 percent of the world’s population.

By 2012, Botero said WJP plans to cover enough countries to account for 95 percent of the world's
population and update its figures annually. The group eventually plans to include rural locations and break
countries down by region.
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