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Mexico undertook historic criminal justice reform in 2008. But one critical player was left behind: the police. Now, amidst the country’s continued impunity crisis, the World Justice Project is working with local authorities to make up for lost time.

When it comes to resolving problems big and small, access to justice remains elusive for two-thirds of humanity. But new momentum for people-centered justice could change that. At the second Summit for Democracy, a broad coalition of countries and civil society organizations called for a global renewal of a core pillar of democracy–the rule of law. The best way to do so, they said in a joint statement, is to rebuild citizen trust by embracing people-centered justice. More than 5 billion people are caught up in a massive global justice gap, according to research by the World Justice Project (WJP). That includes over 4 billion people who can’t access basic protections the law allows, and 1.5 billion people who cannot solve their legal problems–whether criminal, civil, or administrative–through the justice system.

Discrimination is widespread and getting worse around the world, according to World Justice Project data. The latest edition of the World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index—the world’s leading, independent source of rule of law data—finds that 70% of countries have seen discrimination worsen between 2021 and 2022. Since 2015, discrimination has increased in three-fourths of countries that WJP studied.

An app inspired by a horrific act of gender-based violence in India is now empowering women and girls around the world to make their communities safer. The World Justice Project spoke to Elsa Marie d’Silva, founder and CEO of the Red Dot Foundation about the Safecity app, which won the World Justice Challenge 2022 in the Equal Rights and Non-Discrimination category. 

Around the world, equality for women and girls is still an ongoing struggle. This International Women’s Day, the United Nations is shining a spotlight on the gender gap in STEM education and careers, as well as the threat of online violence that women face.   Improving women’s rights is a key goal for a number of organizations in the World Justice Challenge network, which includes community-based organizations from around the world that are dedicated to strengthening the rule of law. Several of these organizations are strategically utilizing technology in their work—whether in addressing online harassment, providing women and girls with a digital education or supporting survivors of sexual violence.  

On February 25, Nigerians will elect a new president, with 18 candidates vying for what will likely be a challenging job. Data from the WJP Rule of Law Index 2022 shows Nigeria has experienced a decline in the rule of law for five straight years, and the country now ranks 118 out of 140 countries and jurisdictions studied.  While members of the international community are watching what happens in Africa’s most populous nation with keen interest, a Nigeria-based nonprofit organization, the Samuel Ioron Foundation, is seeking to empower more of the nation’s most vulnerable citizens to vote. 

The rise of disinformation campaigns parallels a global rise of authoritarianism and has created a unique challenge to the rule of law: How can governments combat disinformation while protecting and respecting freedom of expression? Freedom of expression is eroding worldwide, according to the WJP Rule of Law Index. Last year alone, this fundamental freedom declined in 63% of countries studied. Looking back further to 2015, the Index shows freedom of expression has declined in a whopping 81% of countries.   These global trends are mirrored regionally in the Asia Pacific, where many governments have passed laws with the stated purpose of combating disinformation. Unfortunately, these laws also serve to limit free speech and repress criticism.

Ensuring that everyone has equal access to resolution of their legal problems should be an important goal for countries around the world. Strong and accessible civil justice systems allow citizens to resolve grievances effectively without corruption, discrimination, or unnecessary expenses.  Unfortunately, last year, the effectiveness of civil justice systems fell in over three-fifths of countries around the world, according to the 2022 WJP Rule of Law Index. That included countries across the Asia Pacific region, where 62% of states suffered setbacks in civil justice.  In December, the Asia Pacific Justice Forum brought experts from across the region together to discuss justice barriers and share ways in which they are working to create change.

In recent years, countries have struggled to uphold a fundamental aspect of the rule of law: judicial independence. Judicial independence is not easily measured, but three indicators in the WJP Rule of Law Index provide insight into the impartiality of the judiciary, and the data suggest persistent and growing challenges in the Asia Pacific region. 

More than 4.4 billion people live in countries where the rule of law weakened last year, according to the World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index. Will these trends continue?

During the opening session of the Asia Pacific Justice Forum (December 8-9, 2022), Professor Margaret Satterthwaite, UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers and professor of clinical law at the New York University School of Law, outlined the importance of an independent judiciary for countering rising authoritarianism. 

To mark the second anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Rosenthal took inspiration from Frederick Douglass’s powerful 1852 exhortation to the nation, “What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?” Rosenthal is an advocate for the arts and justice, serves as chief operating officer and corporate secretary of The Juilliard School, and participated in the 2022 World Justice Forum.

At the closing session of the Asia Pacific Justice Forum (December 8-9, 2022), UN Special Rapporteur Vitit Muntarbhorn called for empathy and "transformative partnership" to expand the rule of law for all. In the remarks and video below, he lays out a vision for advancing the three regional priorities at the heart of the conference: access to justice, judicial independence, and freedom of expression.

The World Justice Project, Australia Indonesia Partnership for Justice (AIPJ2), and KEMITRAAN Partnership for Governance Reform recently hosted the Asia Pacific Justice Forum to focus on three pressing rule of law issues in the region - judicial independence, combatting disinformation, and ensuring access to justice for minorities.  WJP and our Forum partners welcomed more than 100 attendees to Jakarta, Indonesia for two days of interactive sessions and panels focused on these topics. Hundreds more participated in the Forum virtually.   

A year and a half ago, Mehnaz was a teenager living in Afghanistan. She had friends, went to school and was part of a cycling team.  Then, everything changed.  “After the Taliban took over, the world of cycling, education, and the world of my dreams all became dark to my eyes. I lost all hope, and my heart was broken,” Mehnaz said. 

The 2022 WJP Rule of Law Index recorded the fifth consecutive year of rule of law declines driven by stark authoritarian trends. News outlets in over 100 countries took note in more than 2,000 stories. 

Three wrongfully convicted men whose story WJP highlighted earlier this year are now free in Mexico. On December 7, Mexico’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Gonzalo García Hernández, Juan Luis López García and Héctor Muñoz Muñoz were unjustly convicted of attempted kidnapping and sentenced to 50 years in prison. Deprived of their freedom since 2015, the men were immediately released following the ruling. 

Brazil has experienced one of the world’s largest declines in rule of law since 2016, with its overall rule of law score falling each year for five consecutive years, according to data from the 2022 World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index. These declinescome amidst a five-year trend of global backsliding. In Brazil, as globally, the declines have been largely driven by rising authoritarianism, exhibited by weakened constraints on government powers and the deterioration of fundamental rights and freedoms. The falling effectiveness of the civil justice system, exacerbated by COVID pressures, has been another major driver of declines.