Greece struggles in its rule of law
Greece placed 41st out of 133 countries the world over, according to a the World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index, which ranks countries according to the way the rule of law is experienced by the general public.
The report used 44 indicators in eight rule of law factors, namely constraint on government power, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice and criminal justice.
Greece’s overall rule of law performance put it in 22nd place out of 24 countries in the regional ranking – that includes countries from the European Union, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and North America – and 34th out of 36 among high-income countries.
The countries included in the EU, EFTA and North America region are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US.
Greece’s ranking was relatively low in all rankings – regional, income and global.
With regard to the criminal justice factor, it placed 23rd out of 24 in the regional category, 35th out of 36 among high-income countries and 50th on a global level.
In the category referring to the absence of corruption, it also made a poor showing – 22 out 24 regional countries, 34 out of 36 high-income countries and 46th globally.
Greece did slightly better in the categories measuring constraints on government powers – 20th out of 24 regional countries, 29th out of 36 high-income countries and 36th globally.
The independent WJP is an organization seeking to advance the rule of world globally.
