Rule of Law Rankings

• Pages: 68-68

68 || ABA JOURNAL NOVEMBER 2017

Your ABA

in the United States,” Botero

says, “and recent events show

the system of checks and bal-

ances is working as it should.”

The current Rule of Law

Index is based on data col-

lected in October 2016,

before the November elec-

tions. Botero says the 2017

index may show trends

resulting from the election

outcome more clearly.

ADDING TO THE DIALOGUE

The index is playing an

increasingly important role

in the international dialogue

about rule of law issues,

Botero and Hubbard say.

“You can’t solve a problem

if you can’t measure it,”

Hubbard says. “This is the

most comprehensive rule

of law measurement in

existence—the most com-

prehensive and in-depth.”

The WJP is in the process

of expanding its e orts. In

2015, the project launched an

open government index, and

it recently started an envi-

ronmental rule of law index

in conjunction with the ABA

Section of Environment,

Energy and Resources.

A section task force helped

develop the questionnaire

that went to fi ve pilot coun-

tries—Argentina, Colombia,

Germany, Japan and Kenya

—and provided contact with

lawyers who would partici-

pate, says task force member

Claudia Rast, a shareholder

at Butzel Long in Ann Arbor,

Michigan. The section also

has provided funding, she

says.

The section has been dis-

cussing this kind of project

with the WJP since 2009,

Rast says. “The Rule of Law

Index itself is very helpful

for comparing and evaluat-

ing rule of law e orts in vari-

ous countries,” she says, “but

we thought it was important

to seek to meet those goals in

the environmental fi eld.”

In Hubbard’s view, this

collaboration refl ects the

close relationship between

the World Justice Project

and the ABA, and he credits

Neukom for having the

vision to launch the project.

“This has been one of the

ABA’s great success stories,”

Hubbard says. “This is an

initiative the ABA should

look proudly on as the

founding entity.” Q

Rule of Law Rankings

The 20 highest-rank ing nations (out of 113) are shown , based

on their overall scores, a long with a representati ve sample of

other countries arou nd the world. Each countr y’s numerical

score is based on a scale o f 0.00 (lowest adheren ce to the rule

of law) to 1.00 (highe st adherence). The 2016 edi tion of the

Rule of Law Index accou nts for some 95 percent of the worl d’s

population, and the data was collected in October 2016.

COUNTRY GLOBAL RANKING SCORE

Denmark 1 0.89

Norway 2 0.88

Finland 3 0.87

Sweden 4 0.86

Netherlands 5 0.86

Germany 6 0.83

Austria 7 0.83

New Zealand 8 0.83

Singapore 9 0.82

United Kingdom 10 0.81

Australia 11 0.81

Canada 12 0.81

Belgium 13 0.79

Estonia 14 0.79

Japan 15 0.78

Hong Kong SAR, Chi na 16 0.77

Czech Republic 17 0.75

United States 18 0.74

Republic of Korea 19 0.73

Uruguay 20 0.72

France 21 0.72

South Africa 43 0.59

Argentina 51 0.55

Vietnam 67 0.51

China 80 0.48

Mexico 88 0.46

Russia 92 0.45

Zimbabwe 108 0.37

Cameroon 1 09 0.37

Egypt 11 0 0.37

Afghanistan 111 0. 35

Cambodia 112 0.33

Venezuela 113 0. 28

The overall rankings are b ased on how well each countr y

performs on eigh t specifi c factors. B elow is the score and

global ranking for t he United States on each of tho se factors.

FACTO RS GLOBAL RANKING SCORE

Constraints on

government powers 13 0.81

Absence of corruption 20 0.73

Open government 12 0.78

Fundamental rights 21 0.75

Order and security 31 0.80

Regulatory enforcement 19 0.71

Civil justice 28 0.65

Criminal justice 22 0.68

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2018 REGULAR STATE

DELEGATE ELECTION

Pursuant to §6. 3(a) of the

ABA’s Constitution, 17 states

will elect State Delegates for

three-year terms beginning at the

adjournment of th e 2018 Annual

Meeting. The states conducting

elections and election rules and

procedures can be foun d at

ambar.org/2018StateDelegate.

2017 STATE DELEGATE

ELECTION MAINE

(VAC ANCY )

Pursuant to §6. 3(e) of the ABA’s

Constitution, th e state of Maine

will elect a State Del egate to fi ll a

vacancy due to the resi gnation of

Geraldine (GiGi) Sa nchez. The

term will commence immediately

upon certifi cation by the Board

of Elections and ex pires at the

conclusion of the 2020 An nual

Meeting. Go to amb ar.org/

2017StateDelegateVacancy-

Maine.

2018 BOARD OF

GOVERNORS ELECTIO N

The Secretary he reby gives

notice that at the 201 8 Midyear

Meeting, the Nominating Com-

mittee will announce nomina-

tions for district and at-large

positions on the ABA Bo ard

of Governors for three- year

terms beginning at the conclusion

of the 2018 Annual M eeting.

The deadline for recei pt of nom-

ination petitions i s Jan. 5, 2018.

A list of the district a nd at-large

positions conducting elections,

and the election r ules and proce-

dures, can be found a t ambar.org/

2018BoardofGovernors.

See full notices online at ABAJournal.com/magazine.