The World Justice Project

Rule of Law Index

Many organizations have done important work measuring aspects of the rule of law, but few attempts have been made to comprehensively measure adherence to it. Developing an assessment tool is critically important because the rule of law is the platform for communities of opportunity and equity and is essential to addressing the world’s most persistent and harmful ills. For this reason, the World Justice Project (WJP) is examining methodological issues related to measuring the rule of law and developing a Rule of Law Index which will assess countries' adherence to the rule of law. The WJP working definition of the rule of law comprises four universal principles.

The WJP has identified principal factors and specific corresponding indicators by which a country's adherence to the rule of law can be measured. The Index is structured to take into account a variety of governance systems, the gap between law on the books and actual practice, and the existence of informal justice systems.

The Index will be applied in up to five countries prior to the World Justice Forum in July 2008. One of those countries will be the United States. The WJP expects regularly enhanced versions of the Index to be periodically administered in countries around the world.

The Index is intended to be a constructive tool with useful information that government leaders and others will refer to in order to strengthen their countries' adherence to the rule of law. The WJP will prepare an Index Report that describes findings in countries where the Index is administered.