Uruguay tops Rule of Law Index in Latin America and the Caribbean

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – “With 0.71 points and ranked 25th in the world, Uruguay is the Latin American and Caribbean country with the best performance this year, which on a global level is behind France (23rd) and Latvia (24th) and above Portugal (26th). On a continental level it was only surpassed by Canada, which scored 0.80 and ranked 12th,” stated Nueva Mayoría international consulting firm reporting data from the 2021 Rule of Law Index, which the World Justice Project has been preparing since 2015.

“The robustness of the rule of law in Uruguay has hardly suffered any changes since 2015, the year of the first World Justice Project report. At the time, Uruguay scored 0.71 points and that has been the constant except in 2016, where it achieved its best score: 0.72. The country has lost relative positions as the index covered more countries: it dropped from its best position in 2016 (20th) to its current position (25th) in 2021, with hardly any change in its score,” the report adds.

“The 2021 Rule of Law Index, produced by the World Justice Project continuously since 2015, is the world’s leading source of original and independent rule of law data. The index covers 139 countries and is based on national surveys of over 138,000 households and 4,200 legal professionals and experts, with the aim of measuring how the rule of law is experienced and perceived in each of these countries,” explains the consulting firm’s director Rosendo Fraga.

1. Constraints on government powers: Uruguay scores 0.76 points, (18th)

2. Absence of corruption: 0.73 (22nd)

3. Open government: 0.72 (20th)

4. Fundamental rights: 0.79 (16th)

5. Order and security: 0.70 (82nd)

6. Regulatory enforcement: 0.71 (24th)

7. Civil justice: 0.73 (19th)

8. Criminal justice: 0.56 (39th)