11 Countries with the Worst Justice System in the World

Justice systems are different all over the world, and this list of 11 countries with the worst justice system in the world tells you which ones to avoid at all costs.

The whole humanity relies on rules of law and justice system mainly because we live (or should live) in civilized societies. Since “eye for an eye” approach is not the way of dealing with those who break the law, we need to rely on criminal justice system. It plays a huge role in the society since its primary aim is to reduce crime by bringing offenders to justice. As much as law serves to punish the offender, some laws are truly ridiculous. If you want to have a good laugh, take a look at our list of most ridiculous and weird laws in the world.

Consequences of a bad justice system are huge, since it (in)directly tells the offenders that they are free to do whatever they want since they will not be punished accordingly. At the same time, it can encourage people to “take things into their own hands” what potentially can lead to anarchy in society. Lawless places are, unfortunately, scattered all around the world and we’ve compiled a list of most lawless places in the US which focuses only on lawless places in America. These lawless places are often struck with poor life expectancy because of high violence rates and low quality of life in general. Speaking of poor countries and lawless places – Insight Crime published an article about Venezuela criminal justice system, and it appears that justice system in this country is at very poor level including its corruption levels, access to fundamental rights and overall effectiveness of Venezuela’s criminal justice system.  It is also among the countries with the worst court system in the world and slowest justice system in the world as well.

On the other side of the spectrum, we have those countries with the best justice system in the world. So if you ever wondered which country has the best justice system, Forbes Magazine published an interesting list of top 10 countries where justice prevails, and according to this list, Denmark justice system takes the number one spot. It would be interesting to compare the list of countries of the best justice system in the world with, let’s say, list of countries with the oldest population in the world in order to see if there are any connections between the effective justice system and the well being of society in which elderly can fully enjoy their third age. However, this time, we are dealing with the countries with the worst justice system in the world. So, let’s see how we compiled our list.

Since justice systems around the world are a very common point of research, it was not that hard to find reliable data and source for this article on the countries with the worst justice system in the world. The starting point of this research was The Guardian’s article on global ranking on corruption and justice in the world. However, the main source of data was Rule of Law Index (for 2016 since the newest data is not published yet) published by World Justice Project. This is a very comprehensive survey which offers country rankings according to the rule of law. This data was measured by calculating data for eight different factors: the constraint on government powers, the absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice and criminal justice. World justice report for 2016 included 113 countries while in 2015 it included 102. Countries are ranked according to their Rule of Law Index. Those with the worst score are placed at the top of our list of 11 countries with the worst justice system in the world.

11. Bangladesh

Global ranking: 103

Although placed at the bottom of our list, Bangladesh was placed in bottom tercile in all eight factors: constraints on government powers, open government, order and security, civil justice, the absence of corruption, fundamental rights, regulatory enforcement and criminal justice. However, when it comes to the regional rank of South Asia, Bangladesh is ranked as second out of six countries.

10. Bolivia

Global ranking: 104

Bolivia’s judicial system is a pretty thorny one. The rule of law is often circumvented, and the system itself is very weak and inefficient. When it comes to the criteria of criminal justice, Bolivia is ranked as 112^th country out of 113. Corruption and lack of transparency is a constant problem in Bolivia, and according to Corruption Absence criteria, Bolivia is ranked at the 102^nd position.

9. Uganda

Global ranking: 105

After becoming independent from Britain, Uganda experienced a lot of political insecurity. This took its toll on a country’s justice system as well. Uganda is ranked in a lower tercile in all eight factors of WJP Rule of Law Index. Due to the political interference, there is a high risk of corruption in the justice system of Uganda. Unfortunately, the people of Uganda are getting more used to this way of life, and the justice system in Uganda is sinking deeper and deeper every day.

8. Pakistan

Global ranking: 106

Pakistan is also ranked on lists of worst countries for worker’s rights since Pakistani workers face exclusion from labor laws and are threatened by arrest and violence. It comes as a no surprise that Pakistan is ranked as 106^th in the area of civil justice and 109^th in regulatory enforcement. The ranking is slightly better when it comes to criminal justice (81) and government accountability (72). Most of the participants in the survey answered that although they experienced dispute over the last 12 months, they chose to do nothing about it.

7. Ethiopia

Global ranking: 107

Majority of African countries tend to rank very low when it comes to the justice system. According to Henok G. Gabisa’s article, political elites in Ethiopia constantly create the judicial system that furthers government’s agenda while betraying human rights and freedom of other citizens. When it comes to the factor “Absence of corruption,” Ethiopia is actually ranked pretty high (68^th out of 113 countries) when compared to other countries on our list of 11 countries with the worst justice system in the world. The same goes for “Order and security” factor, according to which Ethiopia takes 76^th place on the list. However, it is ranked very low according to the rest of the factors.

6. Zimbabwe

Global ranking: 108

Just like Uganda, Zimbabwe is ranked in a lower tercile in all eight aggregated factors of WJP Rule of Law Index. Factor “Open Government” measures whether or not basic laws and legal rights are publicized and to what extent the government provides this information. According to this factor, Zimbabwe is placed as 110^th country out of 113. When it comes to fundamental human rights, it takes the very bottom of the list.

5. Cameroon

Global ranking: 109

Corruption is present in almost every sphere of life in Cameroon that ranks 5th in our list of countries with the worst justice system in the world. Displeased with its justice system, citizens of Cameroon rely on “street justice” more than ever. This process of “private justice” is becoming more popular because people don’t have confidence in the justice system. This is confirmed by the report as well since Cameroon takes 111^th place (out of 113) when it comes to the factor of “Order and Security) and in the region of Sub-Saharan Africa, it is ranked as the worst country.

4. Egypt

Global ranking: 110

When it comes to constraints on government powers, Egypt is ranked as 110/113. According to the “Open Government” factor which measures the openness of government (the government that empowers people and shares information), Egypt is ranked as the worst country.

3. Afghanistan

Global ranking: 111

Sadly, the Afghan National police are known to be notoriously corrupt. The existence of corruption in justice system immediately raises the feelings of insecurity among the people living in the country. The lack of access to justice and fair implementation of law directly impacts the lives of Afghani people causing them to turn to alternative ways of dealing with their disputes. Afghanistan is also in a lower tercile in all eight aggregated factors of WJP Rule of Law Index. According to “Absence of Corruption” factor (which measures the absence of corruption in the judiciary, legislature, military, and police), Afghanistan is ranked as the worst country on the global ranking.

2. Cambodia

Global ranking: 112

Since it is ranked this high on our list of countries with the worst justice system in the world, it is expected that Cambodia is in a lower tercile in all eight aggregated factors of WJP Rule of Law Index. It is the lowest ranked country in East Asia and Pacific region, and it is ranked as the 113^th country when it comes to civil justice factor. Corruption among prosecutors, judges and court officials is widespread, and because of unlawful police practices, victims rarely find justice. According to the article published by International Bar Association, corruption in Cambodia is endemic and it “touches every part of Cambodia’s legal system.” Justice system in Cambodia is the weakest and most vulnerable sector.

1. Venezuela

Global ranking: 113

Venezuela has the overall lowest rank when it comes to the countries with the worst justice system in the world. It is among the most corrupt countries in the world or better to say THE worst country when it comes to this list. Corruption perpetrates almost every sphere of life in Venezuela, and even those with top functions are allegedly corrupt. Even Venezuelan vice-president confirmed this by stating that there is no separation of drugs and state. This directly implies the injustice in the justice system as well. It is corrupt, inefficient and the offenders can easily escape the law if they bribe the right people. Venezuela is in a lower tercile in all eight aggregated factors of WJP Rule of Law Index. It is the bottom of global ranking and regional ranking (Latin America and the Caribbean). It is 113 out 113 countries when it comes to criminal justice which makes it the perfect candidate for number one spot on our list of 11 countries with the worst justice system in the world.