Poland the worst offender as global justice index identifies decline in checks on government power for second successive year

Autocratic rule is on the rise throughout the world, with a growing number of authoritarian leaders “hijacking” laws to consolidate their own power, a study of global justice has found.

Poland demonstrated the most significant turn towards authoritarianism over the past four years, followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. In all, 64% of 126 countries surveyed made similar moves towards autocratic rule in the past year alone, according to an annual rule of law index published by the World Justice Project.

With more countries declining than improving in their overall performance on the rule of law, the global trend towards authoritarianism should be viewed with concern, said WJP’s executive director, Elizabeth Andersen.

“This slide in rule of law in general and checks on government powers in particular is deeply concerning,” said Andersen.

“There is a crucial difference between ‘rule by law’ and ‘rule of law’. In too many countries, laws and legal institutions are being manipulated to undermine rather than uphold the rule of law, even as governments wrap their actions in ‘rule of law’ rhetoric.”

The study’s authors noted that “constraints on government powers” – the extent to which a nation is checked by factor including the existence and strength of independent judiciaries, a free press, and the ability of legislatures to apply oversight– also declined significantly in China, Egypt, Honduras, Hungary, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Senegal and Turkey.

The second largest decline over the past year was in criminal justice, followed by open government and fundamental rights. The biggest four-year decline was in fundamental rights, with 70% of countries sliding in areas including due process of law and the right to life, freedom of expression and religion.

The index is seen as the world’s most comprehensive dataset of its kind. Based on primary data from 120,000 households and 3,800 expert surveys in 126 countries, it measures a nation’s rule of law performance in relation to eight factors: constraints on government powers; absence of corruption; open government; fundamental rights; order and security; regulatory enforcement; civil justice; and criminal justice.

Even as they amass new powers, authoritarian leaders cynically justify their actions as upholding the rule of law Elizabeth Andersen, executive director, World Justice Project

Eighteen countries have experienced consistent year-to-year declines, according to the report, while 14 have steadily improved each year. The largest overall improvement globally was in regulatory enforcement, where there was a 70% increase in government adherence over the past year.

Scandinavia topped the index, with Denmark finishing in first place, followed by Norway and Finland. The UK was ranked 12th, while the US rated 20th. At the bottom of the list were the the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cambodia and Venezuela.

The most notable improvements were seen in Argentina and Estonia, said WJP’s chief research officer, Alejandro Ponce.

“Since 2015, no country has improved their overall rule of law score as much as Argentina. Unlike the majority of countries in our study over the past few years, Argentina saw a remarkable improvement in checks and balances on government power,” said Ponce.

Estonia has dramatically increased its scores in terms of open government, as well as constraints on government powers and civil justice, said Ponce.

While a change of government can put a stop to authoritarianism, changing problematic state institutions is a far more complicated process, said Andersen, partly because of “opposition from stakeholders who benefit from entrenched economic policies”.

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While each country will need to find its own response to authoritarianism, the global community needs “to begin to call a spade a spade when it comes to rule of law”, said Andersen.

“Ironically, one of the most striking things about the degradation of the rule of law is that it is being effected through laws and legal institutions. The law itself is being hijacked and used to erode checks on power. Even as they amass new powers, authoritarian leaders cynically justify their actions as upholding the rule of law. Hopefully the index will help highlight what’s really happening to the rule of law around the world.”