The WJP Rule of Law Index® measures rule of law adherence in 113 countries and jurisdictions worldwide based on more than 110,000 household and 3,000 expert surveys. Featuring primary data, the Index measures countries’ rule of law performance across eight factors: Constraints on Government Powers, Absence of Corruption, Open Government, Fundamental Rights, Order and Security, Regulatory Enforcement, Civil Justice, and Criminal Justice.
Fundamental human rights are reported to have diminished in almost two-thirds of the 113 countries surveyed for the 2018 Rule of Law Index, amid concerns over a worldwide surge in authoritarian nationalism and a retreat from international legal obligations.
While the Nordic trio of Denmark, Norway and Finland again rank first to third in the index, the United Kingdom has dropped out of the top 10 to 11th place overall. In all, 38 countries have seen their overall Rule of Law score diminish since the last index.
Of the 35 countries classified as “high-income” in the report, the United States ranks 19th, just ahead of Korea and behind France. But in the fundamental rights category, the US falls five places to 26th, with worsening levels of discrimination and due process of law plus decreased guarantees of the right to life all contributing to this downward trajectory.
