Justice in nations

Equality under the law     Defendant protection index    Humana index

Aspects of:

Variable Measurement Era SPSS code N Source
Equality under the law

“Are citizens equal under the law, do they have access to an independent, non-discriminatory judiciary, and are they respected by the security forces?” Countries were given ratings from 0 to 4. The higher the rating the greater the degree of equality under the law. A country is assigned to a particular category based on responses to the checklist and the judgments of the Survey team at Freedom House. (See Freedom House, Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties, 1994-95). Ratings transformed to 0 to 10 scale 1990s LegalEqual_90s 62 Djankov et al. 2001, using 'Economic Freedom of the World 1975-1999'.

Indexes:

Variable Measurement Era SPSS code N Source
Defendant Protection Index Mean of ‘protection granted by procedural law to tenant and family by reducing disparity in means and legal representation between landlord and tenant’ and ‘protection granted by procedural law to debtor and family by limiting creditor's access to defendant's assets or reducing disparity in means and legal repress’. 1 high, 0 low 1990s LegalProtc_90s 75 Djankov et al. 2001
Humana index, part of Scale 1-4. Mean of scores on items 29) (1) Right to a nationallity, (2) Right not to be arbitrarily deprived of a nationality nor denied to change the nationality, 30) Right to be pressumed innocent until proved guilty according to the law in a public trial in which person has had all the guarantees necessary for defence, 31) Entitlement to the following minimum guarantees, in full equality, in the determination of any criminal charge: To be tried in presence, to defend in person or through legal assistance of own choosing; to be informed of this right; to have legal assistence assigned in any case where the interests of justice so require, and without payment  in any such case if accused does not have sufficient means to pay for it, 32) Entiltlement in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal in the determination of rights and obligations and of any criminal charge, 33) Right to be brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorized by law to exercise judical power when arrested or detained on a criminal charge and right to trial within as reasonable time or to release..., 34) Right not to be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy, family, home or correspondence nor to be unlawful attacked on honour and reputation, 35) Right to own property alone as well as in association with others and not to be arbitrarily deprived of property. 1990 LegalRights_90 46 Humana 1992, items 29-35
Related variables:
Property rights (Economic Freedom)
Related topics:
Human rights
Legal system
Freedom		 Related themes:
Law and order
Legal system

States of Nations is an inventory of country characteristics. It is part of the World Database of Happiness

Keywords: Equality, Human rights, Judicial system, Legal system, Fairness