On 23rd October 2024, Washington D.C. (the United States of America, USA)-based think tank World Justice Project (WJP) released the report titled “WJP Rule of Law Index 2024”. India has been ranked at 79th position among 142 countries in the index with an overall rule of law score of 0.50 increased by 0.8% compared to last year’s score.
- According to the index, the rule of law has declined for the 7th consecutive year in a majority of countries (57%) while 43% of countries surveyed have experienced improvement in the rule of law.
- Denmark topped the index with an overall score of 0.90, followed by Norway (0.89) and Finland (0.87) ranked at 2nd and 3rd position, respectively.
About WJP Rule of Index 2024:
i.It serves as a quantitative tool that measures the rule of law in practice and is being published annually by WJP since 2009.
ii.The latest edition of WJP Rule of Law Index is based on global surveys of over 2,14000 households and 3,500 legal practitioners and experts. It is the world’s leading source for original, independent data on the rule of law.
iii.The score and rankings of the countries was prepared by using data sourced by the WJP from a General Population Poll (GPP) and Qualified Respondents’ Questionnaires (QRQs).
iv.The score ranges from 0 to 1, where 1(highest possible score)signifies the strong adherence to rule of law and 0(lowest possible score) signifies the weak adherence to rule of law.
v.The index presents information on 8 main factors: Constraints on Government Powers, Absence of Corruption, Open Government, Fundamental Rights, Order and Security, Regulatory Enforcement, Civil Justice, and Criminal Justice.
- These 8 main factors are further categorised into 44 specific sub-factors.
Top 5 Countries:
| Rank | Name of the Country | Overall Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denmark | 0.90 |
| 2 | Norway | 0.89 |
| 3 | Finland | 0.87 |
| 4 | Sweden | 0.86 |
| 5 | Germany | 0.83 |
| 79 | India | 0.50 |
Key Findings:
i.The index highlighted that the declines in most of the countries were largely driven by authoritarian trends. It showed that the index factor which measures the Fundamental rights has decreased in 81% of the countries, including India between 2016 and 2024.
- The report further underscored that among all 142 countries in the index, declines in factor “Fundamental Rights” were most widespread as around two of the three countries (66%) witnessed a decline in this indicator in 2024.
ii.As per the report, over the last 7 years, index scores for “Constraints on Government Powers” have decreased significantly in 77% of the countries, including India.
iii.According to the report, the rising percentage of countries that experience improvement in rule of law is mainly attributed by global advancements in corruption control as the score for factor “absence of corruption” improved in 59% of countries.
iv.Of the 57% of countries that experienced a decline in rule of law in 2024, at least 78% of these countries declined in each of factors i.e. Constraints on Government Powers, Fundamental Rights and Civil Justice.
- 59% of countries (including India) surveyed in the index saw improvement in their index scores for “Absence of Corruption”.
v.Germany (ranked at 5th spot) topped among the Group-7 (G7) countries, followed by Canada (12th), Japan (14th), the United Kingdom (UK) (15th), France (22nd), the United States of America (USA) (rank 27th) and Italy (32nd).
vi.Venezuela ranked at 142nd position in the index with lowest score of 0.26, followed by Cambodia (0.31), Afghanistan (0.32), Haiti (0.33), and Myanmar (0.34) ranked at 141st , 140th , 139th and 138th position, respectively.
India Specific:
i.India ranked 3rd among the 6 South Asian countries, after Nepal (69th) and Sri Lanka (75th). Other 3 countries from the South Asia region: Pakistan (129th), Bangladesh (127th) and Afghanistan ranked bottom on the index.
- India ranked 8th among the 38 Lower-Middle Income Countries (LMICs) covered in the index.
ii.As per the index, India performed decently on governance indicators i.e. constraints on government powers (ranked at 60th spot with score of 0.56); and open government (ranked at 44th spot with score of 0.59).
- This showed India’s push for better governance frameworks and at the same time showed a series of lapses, lack of coordination and intentionality in the efforts.
iii.India scored poor in factors such as: Fundamental Rights (102nd) with a score of 0.46, the order and security of the people (98th) and the efficiency of criminal justice (82nd).
- As per the index, India is among the 63% countries which experienced decline in Fundamental Rights in 2024.
- Also, India is among the 59% of countries where constraints on government powers have decreased in 2024.
iv.India’s failure to create a good business ecosystem has been reflected in the rankings of the 3 factors of the index: absence of corruption (97th), regulatory enforcement (78th) and civil justice delivery (107th).
About World Justice Project (WJP):
Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer (CEO)- William H. Neukom
Headquarters- Washington D.C., the United States of America (USA)
Founded – 2006
