Ghana ranks 58 out of 140 in 2022 Rule of Law Index, maintains position from previous year
Ghana’s overall rule of law score was 0.55, with an annual change global rank of 0, indicating the country’s adherence to rule of law is neither low nor strong.
Ghana has been ranked 58th out of 140 countries and jurisdictions in the 2022 Rule of Law Index by the World Justice Project (WJP).
Ghana’s overall rule of law score was 0.55, with an annual change global rank of 0, indicating the country’s adherence to rule of law is neither low nor strong.
The rule of law scores ranges from 0 to 1, where 1 signifies the highest possible score (strong adherence to rule of law) and 0 signifies the lowest possible score (weak adherence to rule of law).
Regionally, the country ranked 7th out of 34 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The region's top performer is Rwanda (which ranked 42nd out of 140 globally). Closely followed is Mauritius and Namibia, both ranking 45th and 46th globally. Three countries with the lowest scores in the region are Mauritania, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (globally at 131st, 134th and 137th respectively).
The 2022 World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index, which was released on October 25 is part of an annual series of measuring people’s perceptions and experiences of the rule of law in 140 countries and jurisdictions.
“The data featured in this report comes from global surveys completed by more than 154,000 households and 3,600 legal practitioners and experts, making the Index the world’s leading source for original, independent data on the rule of law. This year, the WJP added one new country to the Index: Gabon. The data included in this Insights report comes from the WJP Rule of Law Index 2022. The period of data collection for the 2022 data was February 2022 through June 2022,” the report said.
“Last year’s edition of the WJP Rule of Law Index revealed significant, negative declines in the rule of law around the world amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. While declines are less widespread and extreme than in 2021, the 2022 edition of the Index indicates that the rule of law has continued to deteriorate in a majority of countries worldwide.
The top three performers this year were Denmark, Norway, and Finland. Venezuela, RB; Cambodia; and Afghanistan had the lowest overall rule of law scores. The countries with the biggest improvement in rule of law in the past year were Honduras (3.1%), Kosovo (2.4%), Belize (2.0%), Moldova (1.9%), and the United States (1.8%). Sudan (-7.9%), Myanmar (-7.7%), Haiti (-6.4%), Afghanistan (-6.3%), and Nicaragua (-4.6%), were countries with the biggest decline in rule of law in the past year.
"Some of the biggest global declines this year were in the Index factors associated with rising authoritarianism and the longer-term erosion of rule of law. This year, respect for fundamental rights declined in two-thirds of countries. Checks on government powers--such as oversight by the judiciary, legislature, and media- fell in 58% of countries this year," the WJP said, adding that globally, 4.4 billion people live in countries where rule of law has declined over the past year.
"We are emerging from the pandemic, but the global rule of law recession continues," said Elizabeth Andersen, executive director of the World Justice Project (WJP). "At its heart, rule of law is about fairness-that is, accountability, equal rights, and justice for all. And a less fair world is bound to be a more volatile one."
