Looking at Judicial Independence in the MENA, BRICS, and N11 Region Hi there, I just wanted to follow up my previous post on judicial effectiveness, with the results of my research on judicial independence in the same regions. Of the three regions I looked at, it was the BRICS that I was most interested in. Having lived in India for a couple of years, and seen the damaging effect of corruption first hand, I have always followed developments there closely. And as for Brazil, well, who doesn't want to learn more (okay, visit) that country...? I will continue to watch the MENA region, but in terms of judicial independence, it will be a region of follow over a couple years, not just between 2011 to 2012. The risk to business in the BRICS region due to issues with judicial independence remained stable. India showed some slight improvement, as recent initiatives to combat corruption have started to take hold. Brazil didn't see any change, remaining a high risk, as the over burdened judiciary was still subject to some influence and intimidation. Neither China nor Russia saw any change in their 'extreme risk' rating, with China continuing to be under the thumb of the ruling regime, and complaints about the unfair Russian trial system making up a large portion of complaints to the Russian Commissioner for human rights. South Africa continued to be the only country rating at a 'low risk,' due to the continued and demonstrable independent judiciary. The same risk