File:WJP Rule of Law Index 2010.pdf

World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2010

Executive Summary

“The rule of law is the foundation for communities of opportunity and equity—it is the predicate for the eradication of poverty, violence, corruption, pandemics, and other threats to civil society.”

William H. Neukom, Founder, President and CEO of the World Justice Project

Advancing the rule of law around the world is the central goal of the World Justice Project. Establishing the rule of law is fundamental to achieving communities of opportunity and equity—communities that offer sustainable economic development, accountable government, and respect for fundamental rights. Without the rule of law, medicines do not reach health facilities due to corruption; women in rural areas remain unaware of their rights; people are killed in criminal violence; and firms’ costs increase because of expropriation risk. The rule of law is the cornerstone to improving public health, safeguarding participation, ensuring security, and fighting poverty.

This report introduces the WJP Rule of Law Index™—a new quantitative assessment tool designed to offer a comprehensive picture of the extent to which countries adhere to the rule of law in practice. Indices and indicators are very useful tools. The systematic tracking of infant mortality rates, for instance, has greatly contributed to improving health outcomes around the globe. In a similar fashion, the WJP Rule of Law Index™ monitors the health of a country’s institutional environment—such as whether government officials are accountable under the law, and whether legal institutions protect fundamental rights and allow ordinary people access to justice.

The WJP Rule of Law Index™

The WJP Rule of Law Index™ presents a comprehensive set of new indicators on the rule of law from the perspective of the ordinary person. It examines practical situations in which a rule of law deficit may affect the daily lives of ordinary people. For instance, the Index evaluates whether citizens can access public services without the need to bribe a government officer; whether a basic dispute among neighbors or companies can be peacefully and cost-effectively resolved by an independent adjudicator; or whether people can conduct their daily activities without fear of crime or police abuse. The Index provides new data on the following 10 dimensions of the rule of law:

• Limited government powers
• Absence of corruption
• Clear, publicized and stable laws
• Order and security
• Fundamental rights
• Open government
• Regulatory enforcement
• Access to civil justice
• Effective criminal justice
• Informal justice

These 10 factors are further disaggregated into 49 subfactors. The scores of these sub-factors are built from over 700 variables drawn from assessments of the general public (1,000 respondents per country) and local legal experts. The outcome of this exercise is one of the world’s most comprehensive data sets measuring the extent to which countries adhere to the rule of law-- not in theory but in practice.