Survey finds erosion of fundamental human rights around the world

The 2017-2018 WJP Rule of Law 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.

Since the publication of the last WJP Rule of Law Index in October 2016, a majority of countries worldwide saw their scores decline in the areas of human rights, checks on government powers, and civil and criminal justice.

The biggest mover in this year’s index (calculated by comparing countries against the 2016 rankings) was the Philippines, which fell 18 positions, now ranking 88th out of 113 countries overall and 13th out of 15 countries in the East Asia and Pacific region.

The Philippines saw the most significant drops in constraints on government powers, fundamental rights, order and security, and criminal justice. In contrast, Burkina Faso, Kazakhstan, and Sri Lanka showed the biggest improvements in overall rank, each of whom improved by nine positions over their 2016 overall rule of law ranking.

The top three overall performers in the 2017-2018 index were Denmark (1), Norway (2), and Finland (3); the bottom three were Afghanistan (111), Cambodia (112), and Venezuela (113). The top three and bottom three performing countries have not changed since the 2016 Index.

Murray Hunt, director of the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, told The Guardian: “The WJP’s findings provide worrying confirmation that we live in very dangerous times for the rule of law and human rights.

“The worldwide resurgence of populism, authoritarian nationalism and the general retreat from international legal obligations are trends which, if not checked, pose an existential threat to the rule of law. Preventing violations of the rule of law and human rights is always better than curing them after the event.”

Download the WJP Rule of Law Index 2017-18 here