India ranks 78th in Rule of Law Index 2012

India ranks 78th among 97 countries in guaranteeing access to all civil justice, a latest report released while its neighbouring country Sri Lanka leads the South Asian nations in most dimensions of the rule of law.

The ‘Rule of Law Index 2012’ report by World Justice Project provides country-by-country scores and rankings for eight areas of the rule of law.

India, the report said, has a robust system of checks and balances (ranked thirty-seventh worldwide and second among lower middle-income countries), an independent judiciary, strong protections for freedom of speech, and a relatively open government (ranking fiftieth globally and fourth among lower-middle income countries).

“Administrative agencies do not perform well (ranking 79th) and the civil court system ranks poorly (ranking 78) mainly because of deficiencies in the areas of court congestion, enforcement, and delays in processing cases,” the report said.

“Corruption is a significant problem (ranking 83rd), and police discrimination and abuses are not unusual. Order and security — including crime, civil conflict, and political violence — is a serious concern (ranked second lowest in the world),” the report observed.

According to the report, Sri Lanka outperforms its regional peers in all but two dimensions of the rule of law.

Pakistan shows weaknesses in most dimensions when compared to its regional and income group peers, the report said.