It’s late, the TV is on. Suddenly, armed men appeared in the doorway. They barged in, they searched the house. They were plainclothes police and soldiers. They took the family’s son and cousin and departed in a minibus without a license plate.
This is what, says Ugandan journalist Remma Bahati, befell her family at Fort Portal in western Uganda in early October. – We waited 48 hours – said DW Bahati, who lives in the US. – By law, if someone has committed a crime, the charge must be received in court within 48 hours. But that didn’t happen.
Bahati believes that the Ugandan government took revenge on him by kidnapping him. “I’ve researched some stories that the government doesn’t like,” he said, referring to, for example, the controversial pipeline project.
Rule of Law Ranking: What Writers Learn
The stories of journalists are examples of abuse of power, violations of basic rights and a malfunctioning of the criminal justice system. In short: Uganda has no rule of law. The 2022 Rule of Law ranking confirms that the situation in Uganda is bad in this regard. Uganda ranks 128th out of 140 countries surveyed. Lack of protection of basic rights and widespread corruption, in particular, dragged the country down the ranks.
Since 2009, the World Justice Project has measured the development of the rule of law around the world based on eight factors. In this year’s edition, data was collected from more than 154,000. households and 3.6 thousand. lawyer. Experts are still debating what exactly the rule of law is. However, there is a consensus that under the rule of law – contrary to what the Bahati family experienced – citizens can rest assured that the law will be respected.
Rule of law ranking: Germany in 6th place
Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and the Netherlands can be considered as patterns. They occupy the top five places in the ranking of the rule of law. Germany is sixth – not receiving the highest marks for openness of government and administration, for example because the authorities sometimes disconnect the media from their activities.
Viktor Orban pushes Hungary to end of EU rule of law rankings
Hungary is the worst player in the EU. At the bottom of the world list are Haiti, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Cambodia and Venezuela. There, basic rights, such as freedom of expression, are not protected and government actions are not subject to public scrutiny.
The Chinese example shows that also in countries below half the ranking, the rule of law is very poor. China is doing well in fighting corruption and maintaining order and security. But they are the last in the protection of basic rights and separation of powers.
World trend: the rule of law weakens
According to an analysis by the World Justice Project – the author of the ranking – over the past year, the rule of law has weakened in six out of ten countries. This is the fifth year in a row that the rule of law has fallen on average worldwide.
The authoritarian trend before the pandemic continues to hit the rule of law. Weak control of power and respect for human rights, said Elizabeth Andersen, executive director of the World Justice Project.
Starting in 2020, measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic, such as restrictions on freedom of movement and emergency powers for governments, undermined the rule of law in many countries. While this decline in the rule of law has slowed, it continues.
Elizabeth Andersen, head of the World Justice Project
“We are tackling a health crisis, but not a rule of law crisis,” Andersen said. – Today, 4.4 billion people live in countries where the rule of law is weaker than last year.
He emphasized that the essence of the rule of law is the principle of justice, namely equal rights and justice for all: – A world that is less fair will certainly become a more unstable world.
The fear is still there
Uganda’s lack of the rule of law has had personal consequences for Remma Bahati. Her brother and cousin are free. But – as journalists admit – the fear persists. “My brother was released after nine days, but he had to tell me to stop tweeting about human rights and plans for an oil pipeline in East Africa,” he said. He used to be very confident. Now he is afraid to say what he thinks.
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