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Guyana slips in rule of law ranking
…falls to 18th in the Region
(Kaieteur News) – The global rule of law recession has accelerated again, according to the new WJP Rule of Law Index 2025, with Guyana slipping and is now ranked 80 out of 143 countries.
In a press release, it was mentioned that a stark 68% of countries declined in their rule of law in 2025, compared to 57% in the previous year—including Guyana. Guyana’s overall rule of law score decreased by less than 1% in this year’s Index. It ranks 80th out of 143 countries worldwide.
President Irfaan Ali
Regionally, Guyana ranks 18th out of 32 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The region’s top performer is Uruguay (ranked 23rd out of 143 globally), followed by Costa Rica and Barbados. The three countries with the lowest scores in the region are Nicaragua, Haiti, and Venezuela (143rd globally).
In the last year, 24 out of 32 countries declined in Latin America and the Caribbean. Of those 24 countries, 19 had also declined in the previous year. Among high income countries, Guyana ranks 50th out of 51.
According to the report, an expansion of authoritarian trends is the primary force behind the rule of law recession, with deep declines in factors measuring Constraints on Government Powers, Open Government, and Fundamental Rights. The integrity of checks and balances has also been seriously weakened, including in Guyana, the report noted.
A characteristic of this accelerated rule of law recession is a shrinking civic space. “Freedoms crucial for public discourse and government oversight—measured under the Open Government and Fundamental Rights factors—saw widespread erosion.”
The report stated that Guyana is among the over 70% of countries experiencing a shrinking of civic freedoms: freedom of opinion and expression declined in 73% of countries, including Guyana.
Freedom of assembly and association declined in 72% of countries, including Guyana and civic participation declined in 71% of countries, including Guyana, the report noted.
The Index also shows that judiciaries are losing ground to executive overreach, with rising political interference across justice systems. Indicators measuring whether the judiciary limits executive power and whether civil and criminal justice are free from improper government influence declined in 61%, 67%, and 62% of countries, respectively. This includes Guyana. More broadly, civil justice weakened in 68% of countries, but not in Guyana. This decline reflects longer delays, less effective alternatives to court (such as mediation), and greater government interference.
Globally, the top-ranked country in the 2025 WJP Rule of Law Index is Denmark, followed by Norway, Finland, Sweden, and New Zealand. The country with the lowest score is Venezuela, followed by Afghanistan, Cambodia, Haiti, and Nicaragua.
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