Global Rule of Law Recession Accelerates as Authoritarian Trend Deepens, WJP Index Finds

Global Rule of Law Recession Accelerates as Authoritarian Trend Deepens, WJP Index Finds

The WJP Rule of Law Index 2025 provides data for 143 countries and jurisdictions, covering 95% of the world’s population.

RMN News Legal Desk
October 29, 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 28, 2025) – The global rule of law recession has accelerated significantly, according to the newly released WJP Rule of Law Index 2025. The report, published by the World Justice Project (WJP), indicates that a stark 68% of countries declined in their rule of law in 2025, a sharp increase from 57% in the previous year.

Alejandro Ponce, WJP’s Executive Director, noted the severity of the reversal: “The steady deterioration in the rule of law had slowed in recent years. This year, however, we see a sharp reversal: more countries are declining, and fewer are improving”.

The disparity between countries improving and those deteriorating is widening. Countries that improved saw an average score gain of 0.52%, while those that deteriorated saw an average decline of 1.07%—twice the rate of improvement. This difference underscores that while building resilient rule of law institutions is a long, iterative process, dismantling them can occur rapidly.

Authoritarianism Drives the Decline

The primary force behind this downturn is an expansion of authoritarian trends, characterized by a reduction in civic space and weakening checks and balances. This has resulted in deep declines across factors measuring Fundamental Rights, Open Government, and Constraints on Government Powers.

Key indicators of government accountability showed widespread declines:

• Independent auditing and oversight of government powers declined in 63% of countries.
• Legislative checks on executive power fell in 61% of countries.
• Judicial limits on government power also declined in 61%.

Freedoms essential for public debate, civic space, and government oversight also eroded across most countries:

• Freedom of opinion and expression fell in 73% of countries.
• Freedom of assembly and association fell in 72%.
• Civic participation fell in 71%.

[ 🔊 India Judicial Research Report 2025: Audio Analysis ]

Judicial Independence Weakens

The Index highlights that judicial independence, often considered the last line of defense against executive overreach, is weakening due to rising political interference across justice systems. Indicators measuring the extent to which the judiciary limits executive power, and whether civil and criminal justice are free from improper government influence, declined in 61%, 67%, and 62% of countries, respectively.

Furthermore, civil justice weakened in 68% of countries. This decline is reflected in longer delays, less effective alternatives to court (such as mediation), and greater government interference.

Index Scope and Rankings

The WJP Rule of Law Index 2025 provides data for 143 countries and jurisdictions, covering 95% of the world’s population. The scores range from 0 to 1, with 1 signifying the highest possible adherence to the rule of law. For the first time, Qatar was integrated into the Index this year.

The Index measures adherence to the rule of law based on eight factors: Order and Security, Regulatory Enforcement, Civil Justice, Criminal Justice, Constraints on Government Powers, Absence of Corruption, Open Government, and Fundamental Rights.

Top-Ranked Countries (2025):

1. Denmark
2. Norway
3. Finland
4. Sweden
5. New Zealand

Bottom-Ranked Countries (2025): 143. Venezuela 142. Afghanistan 141. Cambodia 140. Haiti 139. Nicaragua

Among the top decliners were the Russian Federation (-4.9%), Sudan (-4.4%), and Mozambique (-3.9%). Countries showing the largest improvements included the Dominican Republic (2.1%), Senegal (1.6%), and Sierra Leone (1.4%).

The World Justice Project (WJP), an independent, nonpartisan organization, uses a rigorous methodology for the Index, drawing on over 215,000 household surveys and 4,100 legal practitioner and expert surveys to measure how the rule of law is experienced and perceived worldwide.