Sri Lanka has been ranked 48th in the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index 2014 in ts fourth annual report.

The report takes into consideration 99 countries and jurisdictions and surveyed over 100,000 house holds and experts.

According to the index, Sri Lanka ranks 48th globally and outperforms its regional peers in most dimensions of the rule of law.

Sri Lanka also outpaces most lower-middle income countries in several areas, ranking second in delivering effective criminal justice despite a recent deterioration in this area.

The report also notes that control of corruption is relatively effective with Sri Lanka being ranked 39th globally and first in the region.

However, it also notes that violence and HR violations related to the legacy of a protracted civil conflict remain problematic, despite recent improvements.

The report also identifies delays and barriers to access civil justice, ineffective criminal investigations, due process violations and lack of accessibility of official information as areas of concern.

Denmark tops the index with a score of 0.88 while Sri Lanka ranks 42nd with a score of 0.52.

The WJP Rule of Law Index is an assessment tool that offers a comprehensive picture of adherence to the rule of law, using experts and general populations of countries to assess issues of government accountability, fundamental rights, openness of government and access to justice.

The index assesses nine factors in this regard in each country, namely, constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice, criminal justice and informal justice.