Bangladesh advances two places in rule of law index
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Bangladesh has advanced two places in this year’s Rule of Law Index. The country ranked 123rd in the Rule of Law Index 2026 published by the World Justice Project (WJP). Despite the two place improvement, Bangladesh remains behind many countries in South America and Africa.
According to the WJP index, several countries ranked ahead of Bangladesh among 143 countries and jurisdictions. These include Zimbabwe at 122nd, Nigeria at 120th, Sierra Leone at 110th, Liberia at 103rd, Kenya at 100th and Ghana at 62nd.
Among South Asian countries, only Pakistan and Afghanistan ranked below Bangladesh. Nepal ranked highest in the region in terms of the rule of law. Sri Lanka and India ranked second and third, respectively. Bangladesh ranked fourth.
Meanwhile, European countries performed best globally in the Rule of Law Index. The top five countries in the ranking are Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Luxembourg, respectively.
Bangladesh scored 0.39 in the Rule of Law Index this year. The country ranked among the world’s 15 most improved countries and recorded the largest improvement in South Asia. However, Bangladesh’s score remained below the global average of 0.55.
The index evaluates countries based on eight factors. These are constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice and criminal justice. Among the eight criteria, Bangladesh improved only in constraints on government powers, absence of corruption and regulatory enforcement. Its performance or ranking deteriorated in the other five criteria.
Bangladesh performed worst in protecting fundamental rights. The country ranked 133rd out of 143 countries in this category, placing it among the lowest ranked countries globally. With a score of 0.30, Bangladesh ranked 133rd among the 143 countries in this category. Similarly, Bangladesh performed poorly in civil justice, its second weakest category. With a score of 0.36, the country ranked 132nd. This criterion assesses the protection of fundamental human rights under international law.
Bangladesh ranked 124th in regulatory enforcement with a score of 0.40 and 117th in criminal justice with a score of 0.32. Under the absence of corruption criterion, which measures bribery, improper influence and the misuse of public resources, Bangladesh ranked 113th with a score of 0.35. Under constraints on government powers, which measures legal accountability, the country ranked 111th with a score of 0.38.
On the other hand, Bangladesh performed best in the open government category. It ranked 106th with a score of 0.41. In the order and security category, Bangladesh ranked 107th with a score of 0.63. This criterion measures how effectively a society ensures the security of individuals and property.
