UAE ranks high for order and security for residents

The World Justice Project measures the adherence of countries to the rule of law. For the third consecutive year the UAE took the top spot in the Middle East.

ABU DHABI // The UAE has ranked ninth in the world in providing order and security for its residents, according to a recent study.

The Rule of Law Index also found that, for the third consecutive year, the country took top place in the Middle East.

Overall, taking into account all the survey’s categories, the UAE ranked first in the region and 27th in the world. The index is administered by the non-profit organisation World Justice Project (WJP) and it measures the adherence of countries to the rule of law.

Its objective is to provide governments, non-governmental organisations, businesses, academia and civil societies with independent and reliable data to make targeted and effective reforms.

The UAE’s public institutions were found to be relatively well developed and free of corruption, ranking 17th globally, up from 23rd in the previous ranking.

“We don’t measure all countries in the region but, of those that we did, the Emirates has the highest rule of law,” said Juan Botero, executive director with the US-based WJP.

“Institutions in the UAE are modern and they’re so young compared to more established democracies, which have been around for thousands of years. So in the newness of them, the fact that they’re ranking so high is remarkable, especially compared to developed countries.”

Government officers in the UAE were commended for being found accountable for misconduct.

“It’s a very high rank globally, considering that many of these countries have had mature democracies for centuries,” Mr Botero said.

“So there’s room for improvement, as for every country, but it’s still a very high marking, in my opinion.”

The UAE ranked 23rd globally in regulatory enforcement, 33rd for civil justice and seventh on criminal justice, up from its previous ranking of 12th.

“The court system is efficient and relatively independent by regional standards,” said the report. “Nonetheless, due process violations, lack of access to civil courts and discrimination of marginalised groups remain areas in need of attention.”

The UAE also ranked 42nd in constraints on government powers, 52nd in open government and 73rd in fundamental rights.

“The most serious rule of law challenges facing the region are its deficient protection of fundamental rights, limited accessibility of official information and relatively weak constraints on government powers,” the report noted.

The Middle East and North Africa region ranked in the top half of the world in most categories, including order and security, control of corruption, regulatory enforcement and effective civil and criminal justice. The worst overall rankings in the region were Egypt at 74th and Iran at 82nd, among the 99 countries in the index.

“Morocco showed the most improvement in the region during the past year, while Iran deteriorated the most,” the report said.

“Egypt saw a significant deterioration in the area of constraints on government powers.”