Malaysia was ranked 54th out of 139 countries and jurisdictions in the 2021 World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index released in October 2021. This year, Malaysia’s score dropped by 0.01 to 0.57. The Index awards scores ranging from 0 to 1 with 1 indicating the strongest adherence to the rule of law.
In 2020, Malaysia’s ranking in the index rose four places, with an increase of 5.1 percent compared to 2019, putting it in 47th place out of 128. This year, Malaysia was 7th out of 15 countries in the East Asia and Pacific region (comprising Australia, Cambodia, P.R.C., Hong Kong S.A.R., Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam). Globally, Malaysia ranked 59th for constraints on government powers, 49th for absence of corruption, 104th for open government, 84th for fundamental rights, 44th for order and security, 46th for regulatory enforcement, 34th for civil justice and 45th for criminal justice.
The WJP Rule of Law Index claims to be is the world’s leading dataset of original and independent data on the rule of law. The Index provides scores based on eight factors: Constraints on Government Powers, Absence of Corruption, Open Government, Fundamental Rights, Order and Security, Regulatory Enforcement, Civil Justice, and Criminal Justice The Index is based on over 138,000 household surveys and 4,200 legal practitioner and expert surveys to measure how the rule of law is experienced and perceived worldwide.
WJP reported that in 2021, declines in the scores were widespread and affected most countries. "For the second year in a row, in every region, a majority of countries slipped backward or remained unchanged in their overall rule of law performance. Over the past year, 82 per cent of countries in the index experienced a decline in at least one dimension of civic space (civic participation, freedom of opinion and expression, and freedom of assembly and association) and 94 per cent of countries in the index experienced increased delays in administrative, civil, or criminal proceedings," it said.
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