The government, analysts, thinkers, and media persons have been criticizing the judiciary for incompetency, chronic delays in deciding cases, indecisiveness, and political bias.
To validate their claims, they often refer to the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index-2023, where Pakistan’s judiciary ranks 129th out of 140 countries. Within the South Asian region, Pakistan’s judiciary is second last, just above Afghanistan’s.
Before delving into the judiciary’s dismal ranking, it is important to examine whether its performance aligns with other significant national performance metrics. A closer look reveals that the judiciary’s performance is indeed in step with other rankings.
For instance, in the Corruption Perceptions Index, Pakistan ranks 133rd out of 180 countries, highlighting pervasive corruption issues. Similarly, in the Economic Freedom Index, the country is ranked 152nd out of 178, indicating severe constraints on economic freedoms.
The Human Development Index places Pakistan at 154th out of 189, reflecting poor outcomes in health, education, and income. Additionally, Pakistan struggles with press freedom, ranked 145th out of 180 countries, and faces significant security concerns, ranking 150th out of 163 in the Global Peace Index.
According to the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) by the World Bank, Pakistan performs poorly across various dimensions of governance, including political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, and control of corruption.
In the Chandler Good Government Index (CGGI) 2024, which evaluates the capabilities and effectiveness of 113 governments, Pakistan also ranks near the bottom.
Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) in its 2023 ranking was downgraded by 11 places in global ranking making it the biggest regression in the Asian region — its score falling to 3.25, which downgraded it from ‘hybrid regime’ to ‘authoritarian regime. Having said that, I will be presenting my argument in this regard and elaborating on it through my upcoming letters to the Editor in this space shortly.
Qamar Bashir
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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