In the most recent global Rule of Law Index by the World Justice Project (WJP), the Republic of Macedonia ranks 67th among 142 countries in terms of its adherence to the rule of law. The 2023 index, unveiled in Washington, DC, shows that Macedonia maintains an overall score of 0.53, consistent with the previous three years.

This Rule of Law Index evaluates countries based on eight crucial dimensions: constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice, and criminal justice.

Macedonia’s performance in these categories is as follows:

Constraints on government powers: Ranked 97th with a score of 0.47.
Absence of corruption: Ranked 75th with a score of 0.45.
Open government: Ranked 70th with a score of 0.50.
Fundamental rights: Ranked 56th with a score of 0.60.
Order and security: Ranked 43rd with a score of 0.80.
Regulatory enforcement: Ranked 94th with a score of 0.46.
Civil justice: Ranked 75th with a score of 0.52.
Criminal justice: Ranked 72nd with a score of 0.44.
While Macedonia’s overall score remains unchanged, its ranking has dropped by four places compared to the previous year, putting it on par with Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, and Moldova.

Among Western Balkan countries, Montenegro (57th) and Kosovo (58th) outperform Macedonia in the overall list, with scores of 0.56. Bosnia and Herzegovina is ranked 75th with a score of 0.51, while Albania ranks 91st, Serbia ranks 93rd, and Turkey is ranked 117th with a score of 0.41.

The 2023 index includes two new additions: Kuwait, which ranks 52nd globally and 2nd in the Middle East and North Africa region, and Montenegro, ranked 57th globally and 2nd in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Countries with the most significant declines in their rule of law scores in the past year are Sudan, Mali, Iran, Nicaragua, and Afghanistan. On the other hand, Bulgaria, Honduras, Kenya, Slovenia, and Jordan have shown the most improvement in their rule of law scores for 2022-2023. Honduras was also recognized as a top improve in the previous year.

The top-ranked countries in the 2023 WJP Rule of Law Index include Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Germany, while the lowest-ranked countries are Venezuela, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Haiti, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The WJP Rule of Law Index is a valuable source of independent data on the rule of law, covering 142 countries and jurisdictions. It relies on extensive surveys of households (over 149,000 respondents) and legal practitioners and experts (over 3,400 respondents) to assess and gauge the worldwide experience and perception of the rule of law. Published annually since 2009, the Index is a crucial tool for governments, multilateral organizations, businesses, academia, media, and civil society groups to identify and address rule of law gaps.