The annual Rule of Law Index released by the World Justice Project (WJP) this week sees South Africa slot in at 56th out of 142 countries assessed for the index.
Regionally, South Africa ranks 5th out of 34 sub-Saharan Africa’s 34 countries. Top-ranked regional performer is Rwanda (ranked 41st out of 142 globally), followed by Namibia and Mauritius.
The index relies on more than 149 000 household surveys and 3 400 legal practitioner and expert surveys to measure how the rule of law is experienced and perceived worldwide.
The WJP report said: “This is the sixth consecutive index marking global declines in the rule of law. This year alone, the rule of law declined in 59% of countries, including South Africa.
“Since 2016, the rule of law has fallen in 78% of countries studied. The rule of law factor to decline most between 2016 and 2023 is that ensuring fundamental rights – down in 77% of countries, but not in South Africa.”
It added that, over the past seven years, limitations on government powers had fallen in 74% of countries, but not in South Africa.
“Around the world legislatures, judiciaries and civil society – including the media – have all lost ground on checking executive power,” the index, which was released this week, shows.
The three lowest-ranked African countries are Mauritania, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
According to the survey, among upper-middle-income countries, South Africa ranks 12th out of 41.
