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MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines ranked 102 out of 139 countries on rule of law performance, falling three notches on the list, the World Justice Project (WJP) reported on Thursday.
The WJP, an independent and multidisciplinary organization, released the annual Rule of Law Index 2021, which assesses the rule of law in 139 nations based on national surveys of over 138,000 families and 4,200 legal practitioners and experts worldwide.
Based on the report, the Philippines’ new overall rule of law score is 0.46, declining 2.9 percent from 0.47 in 2020.
The group’s framework for the rule of law covers eight factors namely constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice, and criminal justice.
The following is the country’s global ranking in the following factors:
Constraints on government powers – 85/139
Absence of corruption – 77/139
Open government – 71/139
Fundamental rights – 123/139
Order and security – 110/139
Regulatory enforcement – 82/139
Civil justice – 101/139
Criminal justice – 120/139
“Significant trends for the Philippines included a deterioration in the factor measuring Order and Security,” the WJP said in a statement.
Regionally, the Philippines placed 13 out of 15 countries. The country also ranked 18th out of 35 among lower-middle-income nations.
Globally, more nations lowered than improved in overall rule of law performance, the 2021 Index showed.
“In a year dominated by the global COVID-19 pandemic, 74.2% of countries covered experienced declines in rule of law performance, while 25.8% improved. The 74.2% of countries that experienced declines this year account for 84.7% of the world’s population or approximately 6.5 billion people,” the organization noted.
WJP co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Bill Neukom mentioned that the 2021 Index should be a “wake-up call.”
“With negative trends in so many countries, this year’s WJP Rule of Law Index should be a wake-up call for us all,” Neukom said.
“Rule of Law is the very foundation of communities of justice, opportunity and peace. Reinforcing that foundation should be a top priority for the coming period of recovery from the pandemic,” he added.
Denmark, Norway, and Finland topped this year’s report while the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cambodia, and Venezuela, RB settled in the last three spots.
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