Canadian Lawyer

50 J a n u a r y 2 0 1 5 w w w . C a n a D I a n L a w y e r m a g . c o m B a C k pa g E In fact, compared with other G7 coun- tries, only Germany ranks higher than Canada. Japan (12), the United Kingdom (13), France (18), the United States (19), and Italy (26) all rank below Canada. The top five spots belong to northern European countries Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Netherlands, which have small and relatively homog- enous populations, compared with Canada. New Zealand (6) and Australia (7) take up the middle of the pack, followed by Austria (8) and Germany (9). The top 10 is rounded out by Singapore. The non-profit WJP launched its index in 2010, originally examining 35 countries. It sees rule of law as a cornerstone to build- ing a strong, safe, and prosperous society, and hopes policymakers use its findings to improve their justice systems. The survey interviews more than 100,000 households and experts, including 1,000 Canadians from Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. The Canadian data was gathered in 2012. The WJP concedes the rule of law is "notoriously difficult to define and mea- sure," and examines eight key factors (made up of 47 sub-factors): • constraints on government power; • absence of corruption; • open government; • fundamental rights; • order and security; • regulatory enforcement; • civil justice; and, • criminal justice. Canada placed in the top 15 in seven of the eight factors, and its best score was in open government, where it ranked third in the world — I'm sure much to the chagrin of the Liberal and NDP cau- cuses in Ottawa. Canada also cracked the top 10 in regu- latory enforcement, placing ninth. In fact Canada's scores over the previous year, were up slightly or stable. (The survey didn't offer an overall global ranking in its 2012-13 report, it simply ranked countries accord- ing to each key factor.) Interestingly, despite our beloved Char- ter of Rights and Freedoms, the weakest showing in 2014 was in fundamental rights. Canada ranked 16, with discrimination against immigrants and the poor weighing us down. That's better than last year's 18th ranking, and outperforms the U.S. in 27th. One of the biggest challenges facing western democracies centres on issues of discrimination. It's highlighted as a concern in a number of countries, including survey leader Denmark, "where police discrimina- tion against foreigners and ethnic minori- ties are perceived to be a problem." Canada also saw a slide in order and security, dropping to 15 from tenth place last year — our biggest tumble. This fac- tor measures how well a country does in assuring security of the person and property and looks at sub-factors such as conventional crime, political violence, and vigilante justice. Absence of corruption, which is also in the news, was another area where Canada slid slightly, dropping to 14 from 12. In terms of constraints on government power, we nudged up to 13 overall, an improve- ment over last year's 15th-place ranking. Our civil and criminal justice systems did well, placing, 13 and 15 overall. Look- ing at the seven sub-factors measured under civil justice, Canada received kudos for being impartial, no government influ- ence, no corruption, and effective enforce- ment. However, accessibility and afford- ability ranked in the middle of the pack, on par with Turkey, and behind Albania and Uruguay. We also got called out for unrea- sonable delay, comparable to Russia and Estonia and behind Botswana and Burkina Faso. Many advanced countries fared poorly when assessed on those sub-factors. The criminal justice system did well when it came to no corruption and no gov- ernment influence. However, not as well on the issue of discrimination, scoring its lowest mark overall in the survey, tied with South Africa, but above the U.S. and below the United Kingdom. The survey notes overall that criminal justice is in decline around the world. Canada performed well on a regional basis, including western Europe and North America (excluding Mexico), Canada ranked eighth out of 24, in the top 10 in six of eight categories. While there is definitely room for improvement, given the size of our country and its fast-changing demographics, our justice system stacks up with the best. But now is not the time to sit on our lau- rels. Canada, like much of the rest of the world, needs to do better on affordability, access, delay, and discrimination. Jim Middlemiss is a principal at WebNewsManagement.com. he Harper government has faced much criticism over policing and justice matters. Everything from its tough-on-crime agenda to the way it treats terror suspects, has been fodder for front-page stories. Mean- while, opposition politicians seeking the prime minister's job take pride in harping about a lack of transparency, and constantly claiming the govern- ment is abusing its powers. But is all this criticism having a dampening effect on the rule of law in Canada? Not according to the World Justice Project and its Rule of Law Index. For the fourth straight year, Canada is ranked as one of the leading countries, placing 11 out of 99. Justice critics missing the mark? o p I n I o n wE also got callEd out for unrEasonablE dElay, comparablE to russia and Estonia and bEhind botswana and burkina faso. @JimMiddlemiss T By Jim Middlemiss

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