The World Justice Project (WJP) publishes an annual report on the rule of law in more than 100 countries, as determined through in-country household surveys and expert surveys. For countries included in the WJP Rule of Law Index, an overall score and the country’s global and regional rankings are indicated as well as the score for each of the measures that contribute to the overall score. Recent Rule of Law Indexes present assessments based on 8 rule of law factors, using a total of 43 separate measures.[1] The results are expressed numerically on a scale ranging from 0.0 to 1.0, lowest to highest.
The lowest of all 43 measures for Canada in 2019 was a score of 0.47 for “no unreasonable delays” in the civil justice system. This is similar to scores on this measure in previous years.[2] It is an area of justice in Canada, measured by the Rule of Law Index, in which improvements need to be made.
The following charts present a brief summary of the 2019 results for Canada. Canada is ranked 9th among the 126 countries included in the survey. [3] Canada also ranked 9th in the WJP Rule of Law Index 2017–2018 Report.
Always of special interest, our usual international comparators, the UK and the US, rank 12th and 20th, respectively in the 2019 Report. Canada and the UK, with an overall score of 0.80, are in essentially the same position with the US, with an overall score of 0.71, considerably lower.
The rule of law index consists of 8 factors that are aggregated to produce the overall scores reported in the figures above. The table below shows Canada’s scores on each of the 8 factors.
Civil justice received the lowest score among the 8 rule of law factors. The final chart (below) shows the scores for the 7 component measures for the civil justice factor.
Our civil justice system is not corrupt and is largely free of improper government influence. However, the system is, by this account, slow. Justice delayed is justice denied. To that end improvements to our civil justice system are needed in this (and other) areas. It remains to be seen how our civil justice system will fare in the next WJP Rule of Law Index.
[1] Some earlier WJP Rule of Law reports include fewer rule of law factors. For example, the 2009 WJP Rule of Law Index Report includes 4 factors: Accountable government; Publicized and stable laws that protect fundamental rights; Accessible, fair and efficient process; and Access to Justice. See World Justice Project, “World Justice Project Rule of Law Index Report 2009” (November 2009) at 6, online: World Justice Project <https://worldjusticeproject.org/sites/default/files/documents/WJP_Rule_of_Law_Index_2009_Report.pdf>.
[2] “Judicial proceedings without unreasonable delay” was among Canada’s lowest scores in the 2009 WJP Rule of Law Index. With a score below 0.60 in 2009, Canada ranked below other countries in North America, below other high income countries and significantly lower than the top performer on this measure. Further, in 2009 Canada also received its second lowest score for “Efficient, accessible and effective judicial system.” See World Justice Project, “World Justice Project Rule of Law Index Report 2009” (November 2009) at 68-70, online: World Justice Project <https://worldjusticeproject.org/sites/default/files/documents/WJP_Rule_of_Law_Index_2009_Report.pdf>.
[3] See World Justice Project, “World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2019” (February 2019), online: World Justice Project <https://worldjusticeproject.org/sites/default/files/documents/ROLI-2019-Reduced.pdf>.