Index evaluates 142 countries on criteria such as corruption, fundamental rights and justice; Denmark leads, Venezuela is last
Brazil occupies the 80th position in the global Rule of Law ranking between 142 countries, according to the (Rule of Law Index), published by the (World Justice Project), an independent organization.
The survey defines the rule of law as “an enduring system of laws, institutions, norms and community commitments that promotes 4 universal principles: accountability, fair legislation, transparent government and accessible and impartial justice”.
Each country’s ranking is calculated based on 8 main factors: restrictions on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, enforcement of regulations, civil justice and criminal justice.
The report uses 2 main methods to measure each nation’s performance:
- surveys with the local population – to understand public perception of the rule of law.
- expert opinion – technical analysis conducted by professionals in the field.
In the 2024 edition, Denmark leads the rankingfollowed by Norway (2nd), Finland (3rd), Sweden (4th) and Germany (5th). The top 5 places remain unchanged from 2023.
At the other end of the list, Venezuela occupies the last position (142nd), preceded by Cambodia (141st), Afghanistan (140th), Haiti (139th) and Myanmar (138th).
Among the biggest setbacks in the rule of law in the last year are Myanmar, El Salvador and Nicaragua. On the other hand, the countries that advanced the most were Poland, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.
PARTIALITY OF THE JUDICIARY
Brazil had its worst performance in the Criminal Justice category, where it ranks highest 113th position out of 142 evaluated countries.
In this area, the country recorded a score of 0.33 on a scale of 0 to 1, below the global average of 0.47.
Among the 7 indicators analyzed by the World Justice Project in this category, Brazil had the worst result in impartiality of the judiciaryreaching just 0.10 points. The country was tied with Venezuela, led by Nicolás Maduro (United Socialist Party of Venezuela, left).
CORRUPTION IN THE LEGISLATIVE
Another area in which Brazil faces difficulties in surveying the WJP is corruption.
In 2024, under the management of the president (PT), the country occupied the 77th positionwith a score of 0.45 in the Absence of Corruption criterion.
Specifically in the Legislature, Brazil is considered the 2nd most corrupt. It is second only to Haiti, which had a score of 0.053, against 0.081 for Brazilian congressmen.
