The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas’ two-spot fall in the 2020 World Justice Report’s (WJP) Rule of Law Index represents an opportunity “to gain credibility”, governance reformers argued yesterday.

Matt Aubry, the Organisation for Responsible Governance’s (ORG) executive director, told Tribune Business that the country could use the decline in its ranking to 41st out of 128 countries as motivation for improvement in a world where the rule of law appeared to become less valued.

“We can see this WJP ranking as an indicator of lack of success, but it’s better to look at it as an opportunity and say that in the midst of the world going backwards The Bahamas can show it can move itself forward,” said Mr Aubry. “The report said that the world, globally, fell back in this space. So we are now in a world where adherence to the rule of law seems to be less of a priority.

“If The Bahamas pays more attention to it we have an opportunity to gain credibility in our reputation, but there is possibly also opportunity within our business sectors and the opportunity to gain attention to some of the good work being done within our government. We do see a lot of reforms that the government has undertaken, which really does speak well for us if they actualise in terms of our efforts on governance.”

He continued: “I think this is a great opportunity to recognise that the world is looking at these things. We are now at an international place as a financial services leader, as a tourism leader. We are producing some of the highest level of product in these industries and, with the kind of attention we have gained, it also then requires that we get the scrutiny that comes with it.”

The Rule of Law Index ranked The Bahamas ninth out of 30 countries in the Latin American region, but just 34th out of 37 states that it considered to be high income. More countries declined than improved when it came to upholding the rule of law for a third year in a row, continuing a negative slide.

The Bahamas scored relatively well when it came to constraints on government powers, the absence of corruption, fundamental rights and criminal justice. However, it fared less well for government openness, transparency and accountability where it was ranked 62nd out of 128 nations.

This nation’s worst ranking came in regulatory enforcement, which measured the effective and fair implementation of regulations, where it finished 64th. It also finished 55th on order and security, which benchmarked how well a society protects persons and property, and 50th on civil justice, which assessed how easily persons can peacefully and effectively resolve disputes through the civil courts.

Mr Aubry said legislation dealing with the freedom of information, procurement reforms and fiscal responsibility needs to be “followed through” in order to improve The Bahamas’ ranking in these and other indices.

“As I looked at the particular indicators, I think each of these creates an opportunity for us to look at and analyse what is actually on the ground. There is always a challenge with these global indicators or ratings that they use publicly available knowledge, and they give us an indicator of where we might be but they don’t get into the nuances,” he added.