World Justice Project: Global Rule of Law Recession Continues

The 2022 WJP Rule of Law Index evaluates 140 countries and jurisdictions in the world. For the 5th consecutive year, Rule of Law has declined in most countries. 

The index is calculated by the scores obtained in 8 main factors and 44 sub factors that are: 

1) Constraints on government powers: measures the extent to which those who govern are bound by law.

2) Absence of corruption: The factor considers three forms of corruption: bribery, improper influence by public or private interests, and misappropriation of public funds or other resources.

3) Open government:  defined by the extent to which a government shares information, empowers people with tools to hold the government accountable, and fosters citizen participation in public policy deliberations. 

4) Fundamental Rights: assess adherence to the full range of rights, this factor focuses on a relatively modest menu of rights that are firmly established under the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and are most closely related to rule of law concerns.

5) Order and Security: measures how well a society ensures the security of persons and property.

6) Regulatory Enforcement: measures the extent to which regulations are fairly and effectively implemented and enforced. 

7) Civil Justice: measures whether ordinary people can resolve their grievances peacefully and effectively through the civil justice system. 

8) Criminal Justice: evaluates a country’s criminal justice system. An effective criminal justice system is a key aspect of the rule of law, as it constitutes the conventional mechanism to redress grievances and bring action against individuals for offenses against society. 

For Italy in 2022 the overall index score was 0.67, above the global average (0.55) but still below the regional average (0.74). This situation repeats for every single factor that is taken into consideration. The highest being Order and Security  with 0.75, followed by Fundamental Rights (0.73), Constraints on government powers (0.72), Absence of Corruption (0.65), Criminal Justice (0.64), Open Government and Regulatory Enforcement with 0.63 each. The lowest factor is Civil Justice with a score of 0.58. 

Italy is positioned 32 out of 140 countries and data show a significant improvement since 2015. 

The results of this year’s research showed that 4.4 billion people live in a country where rule of law is declining. With a global decline in rule of law, the confirmation of a two-year trend decline, rising authoritarianism and a widespread erosion of fundamental rights, the balance of this year’s result is not optimistic. 

Last update

7/2/2023