The World Justice Program, an independent organization working to advance the rule of law around the world, recently released its Rule of Law Index 2020 report in its ninth annual edition, in which it ranks 128 countries worldwide by measuring a “nation’s adherence to the rule of law from the perspective of how ordinary people experience it”. More particularly, the Rule of Law Index is the average of eight factors highlighted in the following section:

-       Constraints on Government Powers: measures the extent to which those who govern are bound by law

-       Absence of Corruption: measures the absence of corruption in a number of government agencies

-       Open Government: measures the openness of a government and to the extent to which it shares information with the public

-       Fundamental Rights: measures the protection of fundamental human rights

-       Order and Security: measures how well the society assures the security of persons and property

-       Regulatory Enforcement: measures the extent to which regulations are fairly and effectively implemented and enforced

-       Civil Justice: measures whether ordinary people can resolve their grievances peacefully and effectively through the civil justice system

-       Criminal Justice: evaluates the criminal justice system

Nordic countries dominated the top four positions, with Denmark ranking first in the world in the Rule of Law 2020 index with a score of 0.90, while also occupying the first place in the constraints on government powers (score of 0.94), absence of corruption (0.95), order and security (0.93), regulatory enforcement (0.90) and civil justice (0.86) factors. Denmark was trailed by Norway (score of 0.89) while also occupying the first place in the world in the open government factor with a score of 0.89, and Finland (score of 0.87) which ranked first worldwide in terms of the criminal justice factor with a score of 0.83. Sweden completed the top four list with an index score of 0.86.

Regionally, the U.A.E. topped the list (global rank 30) with a Rule of Law index score of 0.65, followed by Jordan (score: 0.57; global rank: 50) and Tunisia (score: 0.54; global rank: 56). Egypt, on the other hand, ranked last in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with a score of 0.36, positioning last on a global basis in the open government factor with a score of 0.22. On the local front, Lebanon ranked 96^th in the world in the Rule of Law index with a score of 0.45. Lebanon came in 6^th among 8 covered Middle East and North African countries and 37^th amongst 42 covered upper middle income countries in the concerned index. In details, Lebanon’s best score (0.66) was in the order & security factor (global rank of 92, upper middle income class rank of 29, MENA rank of 7), followed jointly by the constraints on government powers factor with a score of 0.50 (global rank of 76, upper middle income class rank of 22, MENA rank of 4) and the fundamental rights factor also with a score of 0.50 (global rank of 88, upper middle income class rank of 32, MENA rank of 2). On the other hand, Lebanon fared worst in the criminal justice factor with a score of 0.35 (global rank of 100, upper middle income class rank of 35, and last in the MENA region) and the absence of corruption factor with a score of 0.36 (global rank of 101, upper middle income class rank of 38, and last in the MENA region). This is further highlighted by the following two tables: