PHOTO: World Justice Project/INQUIRER.NET
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines landed on the 97th spot among 140 countries on the rule of law performance, climbing from its previous standing at 102nd place in 2021, according to the World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index 2022.
The WJP, an independent and multidisciplinary organization, released Wednesday the annual report, which assesses the rule of law through over 150,000 household surveys and 3,600 legal practitioner and expert surveys.
With a score of 0.47 on the rule of law index, the Philippines improved from its previous year’s score of 0.46.
READ: PH ranks 102 out of 139 nations on rule of law
The WJP framework for the rule of law covers eight factors:
- constraints on government powers
- absence of corruption
- open government
- fundamental rights
- order and security
- regulatory enforcement
- civil justice
- criminal justice
Among the 140 nations assessed in the report, the Philippines ranked 118th for fundamental rights with a 0.40 score, 117th for criminal justice with 0.32, 104th for civil justice with 0.45, 101st for order and security with 0.66, 88th for constraints on government powers with 0.48, 82nd for regulatory enforcement with 0.48, 78th for the absence of corruption with 0.44, and 71st for open government with 0.50.
According to the WJP, the rule of law weakened globally for the fifth year in a row, with a decline seen in 61 percent of the countries.
“For the second year in a row, more countries declined than improved in seven factors of the WJP Rule of Law Index. However, the percentage of countries that improved in these seven factors has increased since last year,” it also noted.
The WJP further detailed that checks on government powers, including oversight by the judiciary, legislature, and media, dipped in 58 percent of the countries.
“More countries have declined than improved in this factor since 2017,” it added.
Respect for fundamental rights continued on a downward trend observed among the countries since 2015, with 66 percent of the nations worsening regarding this criteria this year.
The WJP found that between 2015 and 2022, the rule of law declined in 64 percent of countries.
PNP welcomes PH improved ranking
In a statement on Thursday, the Philippine National Police (PNP) welcomed the country’s improved ranking in the global rule of law index.
“The Philippines’ improvement in ‘order and security’ parameters as noted by WJP in its 2022 Rule of Law Index is a fair statement and objective acknowledgment of the initiatives of the national institution in upholding the rule of law in its enforcement, prosecution, judiciary, corrections and community pillars of the criminal justice system,” PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. said.
The country’s top cop noted that the PNP takes pride in its efforts to reform its systems and procedures to the “ever-changing demand for better police service to the communities.”
“Law enforcement, to become effective, must be founded on respect for human rights and the rule of law,” he added.
Azurin thanked all police officers and other stakeholders who have contributed to achieving the latest rule of law ranking, which he referred to as a milestone for the Philippines. – with reports from Irish Perez, INQUIRER.net trainee