Cambodia second last, again, in world justice index

South Korea outperforms Hong Kong, just behind Japan and Singapore

Cambodia has landed in second last place on the World Justice Project (WJP) 2022 Rule of Law Index, with a ranking of 139 out of 140 countries and scoring just one place behind Afghanistan and one place above Venezuela.

Last year, the WJP – an international civil society organization with the stated mission of working to advance the rule of law – ranked Cambodia 138 out of 139 countries on its rule of law index, prompting an angry response from the government.

Justice Ministry spokesman Chin Malin derided the latest WJP annual index, saying the report was politically motivated because Cambodia is preparing to hold a national election next July.

“What is very skeptical is that we do not know the method used and way of research, the selection of questions asked and who were asked,” he told the government-friendly Khmer Times.

Cambodia also scored badly in eight factors that make up the index including constraints on government power, fundamental rights, absence of corruption, open government, and civil justice where it finished last.

“Globally, 4.4 billion people live in countries where rule of law has declined over the past year,” the WJP said, noting that adherence to the rule of law fell in 61 percent of the countries it measured this year, registering a fifth-straight year of global decline.

Human rights groups have claimed that Cambodia has silenced dissent by using the courts to ban the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) and stage five mass trials, resulting in the arrests and jailing of many CNRP leaders and supporters.

Four Scandinavian countries, followed by the Netherlands, took out the top five positions. In East Asia, South Korea has overtaken Hong Kong in terms of adherence to the rule of law, and falls just short of the region’s best-ranked jurisdictions, Japan and Singapore.

Other regional laggards included China, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Myanmar also landed in the last 10 positions, falling to 132 from 128 places last year and 112 in 2020, which would partially account for the impact of last year’s coup, which ousted an elected government.

Elizabeth Andersen, executive director of the WJP, said the most dramatic decline in rule of law over the long term had been associated with rising authoritarianism with respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms, down among three-quarters of all countries since 2015.

“Authoritarian trends that predate the pandemic continue to erode the rule of law,” she said, adding checks on executive power were weakening and respect for human rights was falling.

“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,” Andersen said. “Rule of law is also a key underpinning of democracy, which is faltering in many countries around the world.”

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