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More countries declined than improved in overall rule of law performance for a third year in a row, continuing a negative slide toward weakening and stagnating rule of law around the world.

This special report, produced in collaboration with independent news site Animal Político, combines original WJP data on access to justice with storytelling-based investigative journalism.

The entry and nominations deadline has been extended to April 1 for the WJP Anthony Lewis Prize for Exceptional Rule of Law Journalism.

This book discusses necessary institutional and legal reforms to develop the rule of law in a context of democratic, social and economic transformations, with a chapter on "Measuring the Rule of Law in Mexico" by WJP team members Camillo Gutiérrez, Joel Martinez, Alejandro Ponce, and Leslie Solis. 

The WJP Rule of Law Index 2020 will launch on Wednesday, March 11, 2020 in Washington, DC.

In 2019, the World Justice Project and our research products were featured in top media outlets around the globe, citing WJP Rule of Law Index scores, new research on access to justice and the global justice gap, key convenings for the justice agenda, and more.

Published in the November 2019 rule of law issue of the Department of Justice Journal of Federal Law and Practice, "The Meaning, Measuring, and Mattering of the Rule of Law" explores the WJP's eight defining rule of law factors measured in the WJP Rule of Law Index—and why the rule of law matters to policymakers and citizens. 

Almanac: Statistical Memory of the Transition between Two Mexicos - Achievements and Challenges of the New Criminal Justice System is an effort by the World Justice Project (WJP) Mexico team to contribute to greater understanding—through descriptive statistics—of some of the effects of Mexico's New Criminal Justice System (NCJS).

Out now, "Failed Justice: Prevalence of Torture in Mexico's Criminal Justice System" analyzes quantitative evidence of the cases of thousands of Mexican persons that are victims of torture or ill-treatment in Mexico while being accused and processed in the Mexican criminal justice (state and federal) systems.

Tune in to the World Bank Law, Justice and Development Week presentation Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 12:30PM EST.

On Thursday, October 31, 2019, the WJP was pleased to participate in a panel event in partnership with the American Society of International Law discussing what ails the human rights movement today and how the international human rights system should respond. 

On November 1, 2019, the Government of South Africa’s Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Barbara Creecy, announced the launch of the industry-wide Benefit Sharing Agreement on Traditional Knowledge associated with Rooibos. 

The open government community has seen growing support for linking justice to open government in recent years, spurred in part by alarming levels of exclusion from justice.

In Mexico, evidence of abusive and corrupt police officers has sparked a public policy debate centered on the role of Mexico's local police. In part triggered by the large proportion of Mexican citizens who perceive neighborhood law enforcement to be ineffective, proposals have emerged to militarize public security and to roll back criminal justice reforms that are still in their infancy.

Explore how people around the world navigate everyday justice problems in WJP's new data microsite.

The two SDG global indicators for target 16.3 adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2016 both focus exclusively on criminal justice, leaving out the everyday civil justice needs experienced by most of the population, and especially by groups most at risk of being left behind.