On October 28 the World Justice Project (WJP) released its 2025 Rule of Law Index, the latest in its annual series of reports measuring people’s perceptions and experiences of the rule of law around the world.[i]  As usual, the report is a valuable resource to understand the status and long-term trends of the rule of law by presenting detailed data on 44 variables for 143 countries.  Readers of this blog may recall that because of the importance of the rule of law there have been three prior posts herein about the WJP’s reports.[ii]

The current status of the rule of law around the globe is shown in this graphic (green is good, red is bad):

The 2025 WJP report shows that in the last year the rule of law declined in 68% of the countries surveyed, compared to a 57% decline in the prior year.  This unfortunately accelerates a steady decline in the rule of law over the past eight years. 

This decline is profoundly disturbing. The report highlights several key findings that help explain the decline:

  • A rise in authoritarianism is driving the rule of law recession. Three core variables that measure checks on government powers saw declines in over 60% of countries.
  • Civic space is shrinking in many countries.  In the past year, more than 70% of countries faced greater restrictions on the civic freedoms required to maintain open, accountable, and responsive governments.
  • The last line of defense against executive overreach is weakening.  In 2025, core safeguards of judicial independence weakened in most countries.

When I investigated how my country, the United States, performed I was (again) disappointed because the U.S. is one of the countries whose rating declined. [iii] The U.S. global ranking also slipped one spot and is now 27th out of 143 countries (Denmark remained in first place).  I encourage you to look up your own country at CountryProfiles_2025_WJP_RuleofLawIndex.pdf to see how it is doing overall and in each of the assessment factor areas.

Once again, the WJP report has made me think about what actions I might take to improve the rule of law. In my 2023 blog post about the WJP’s work, I ended with a call to action.  Since we still are not doing well, here it is again:

After familiarizing yourself with your nation’s situation, I encourage you to join me in committing to taking action to support the Rule of Law locally.  If you are in a nation that is already doing well, the goal is to keep that high ranking (although there are undoubtedly some areas that can be improved).  If your nation is lower down in the rankings, focus on the factors that need improvement.  What actions can you and your organization do to improve the Rule of Law?  The phrase, “think globally, act locally” comes to mind.

A great way to take action is to apply court performance standards:

As with most efforts, start small and concentrate on one or two areas for improvement.  Then, build on that success and expand to other areas.

Another way to take action is to join and participate in court administration associations to stay informed and network with other court professionals.  By seeing and understanding what others are doing, you will gain insights into current methods to improve; who knows, you may be able to share your court’s best practices with your peers.   If you are not already a member, consider:

Finally, the World Justice Project has wonderful resources, such as its program library (reference sources, videos, slide decks) and events.

All of us involved in judicial administration have a responsibility to achieve excellence in our work to fulfill the public’s trust in us as public servants.  Doing our best to achieve the highest level of the rule of law goes a long way to making that happen.  I urge everyone to make supporting the rule of law a primary professional goal.  The world will be a better place if you do.

[i] https://worldjusticeproject.org/ and https://worldjusticeproject.org/news/wjp-rule-law-index-2025-global-press-release

[ii] The Rule of Law, Index, and You – Court Leader defined the rule of law and included details about the WJP’s work and methodology as well as its 2022 findings; Rule of Law Index – 2023 Update – Court Leader; and Demystifying and Measuring the Rule of Law – Court Leader reported on 2024 findings.

[iii] WJP Rule of Law Index | United States Insights

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Published by Norman Meyer

After 38 years as a trial court administrator in the state and federal courts in the U.S., Norman continues to write, teach, and otherwise participate in judicial administration activities world-wide. In particular, he is active in the International Association for Court Administration (IACA) as a past Regional Vice President and Advisory Board member, in the National Association for Court Management (NACM) as a Past President (having received NACM's Award of Merit), and as an Associate of the Justice Speakers Institute. Norman has extensive experience working on international Rule of Law projects, particularly in the Russian Federation, Serbia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Albania. Norman is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of New Mexico (Political Science and Russian Studies), and he received the Master of Science in Judicial Administration from the University of Denver College of Law.

One thought on “2025 WJP Rule of Law Index”

  1. Thank you Norman. I am happy to report that the World Justice Project will be doing a workshop at NACM’s midyear conference in Albuquerque on the Rule of Law Toolkit and Index. Stay tuned for more info.

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