WJP Rule of Law Index - 2016

This chart shows WJP Rule of Law Index - 2016.

The World Justice Project (WJP) is an independent, multidisciplinary organization working to advance the rule of law around the world. The rule of law provides the foundation for communities of peace, opportunity, and equity – underpinning development, accountable government, and respect for fundamental rights.

The WJP Rule of Law Index 2016 report was prepared by the World Justice Project’s research team.The World Justice Project (WJP) joins efforts to produce reliable data on rule of law through the WJP Rule of Law Index 2016, the sixth report in an annual series, which measures rule of law based on the experiences and perceptions of the general public and in-country experts worldwide.

The WJP Rule of Law Index 2016 presents a portrait of the rule of law in each country by providing scores and rankings organized around eights factors: constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice, and criminal justice.A ninth factor, informal justice, is measured but not included in aggregated scores and rankings. These factors are intended to reflect how people experience rule of law in everyday life.

The Index is the world’s most comprehensive data set of its kind and the only to rely solely on primary data, measuring a nation’s adherence to the rule of law from the perspective of how ordinary people experience it. These features make the Index a powerful tool that can help identify strengths and weaknesses in each country, and help to inform policy debates, both within and across countries, that advance the rule of law.

Strengthening the rule of law is a major goal of governments, donors, businesses, and civil society organizations around the world. To be effective, however, rule of law development requires clarity about the fundamental features of the rule of law, as well as an adequate basis for its evaluation and measurement. In response to this need, the World Justice Project has developed the WJP Rule of Law Index, a quantitative measurement tool that offers a comprehensive picture of the rule of law in practice.