India ranks 66 out of 113 countries in terms of how the rule of law is experienced by its people, says World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index. The report has put India behind 65 countries including Nepal, Thailand and Malaysia. India bags an overall score of 0.51 while Denmark which ranks one in the index has an overall score of 0.89. Venezuela performs poorest with an overall score of 0.28 which puts it at the lowest rank. India’s ranking among 28 lower income countries is slightly better with 6th position.

The WJP surveyed people on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil
justice and criminal justice.

The survey shows that India needs to do a lot of work on order and security where it scores a global rank of 104/113 and bags 23rd position among 28 lower income countries. Fundamental rights, regulatory enforcement, civil justice are other areas where India’s position is worrisome.

Fundamental Rights:  81/113
Regulatory Enforcement:  77/113
Civil Justice: 93/113

Here’s how we score in different areas:


Civil Justice

No corruption: 0.49
No discrimination: 0.43
Accessibility and affordability: 0.31

Fundamental Rights

Freedom of expression: 0.69
Equal treatment: 0.39
Right to privacy: 0.43
Right to life and security: 0.44

Order and security

Absence of crime: 0.69
Absence of violent redress: 0.3

Constraint and government powers

Limits by legislature: 0.77
Limits by judiciary         : 0.68
Independent auditing: 0.59    


Check complete list here


Among the Asian countries, India is second to Nepal which ranks one among six nations.

Ranking among south Asian nations:

Nepal:             1
India:               2
Sri Lanka:       3
Bangladesh:  4
Pakistan:        5
Afghanistan:  6