Rule of Law in Mexico goes backwards for the third consecutive year

Mexico registered a setback in the Rule of Law, going from a score of 0.43 in 2021 to 0.42, this 2022, revealed the Global Rule of Law Index of the World Justice Project (WJP).

The measurement of the study goes from 0 —which means a weak adherence to the rule of law— to 1 —which is equivalent to a strong link— and is built through eight major items in which Mexico obtained the following ratings:

Restrictions on government powers (0.44); absence of corruption (0.26); open government (0.59); fundamental rights (0.49); order and security (0.52); regulatory application (0.44); civil justice (0.37) and criminal justice (0.28).

The report released yesterday by the international organization specified that the rating for Mexico this year places it in 115th place out of 140 measured nations, a drop compared to 2021, when it ranked 113th out of 139.

The country ranked above nations such as Nigeria, Guinea and Turkey and below Liberia, Angola and Mali.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, 32 nations were analyzed; in the region, Mexico ranked 27th, only above Venezuela; Haiti, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Honduras and below nations such as Ecuador, Paraguay, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

“Among its most important trends (in Mexico) is the deterioration of the factor that measures order and security.

“Also, the global trends of the deterioration of the civil justice system and the weakening of non-governmental counterweights such as civil society and the press are observed. To this is added a stagnation in anti-corruption matters, ”said the WJP.

With the results of this 2022, it adds the third consecutive year in which the score of Mexico drops; in 2018 and 2019, the score remained at 0.45; for 2020 it decreased to 0.44, while for 2021 it was 0.43.

The coordinator of the Network for Accountability, Lourdes Morales Canales, indicated in an interview that the results of the index for Mexico show that “the guarantees of the rule of law continue to deteriorate (…) we lost two places in the global measurement.”

The expert highlighted that reforms such as the electoral one, which is currently being analyzed in the Chamber of Deputies, could affect the rule of law in the country since, for example, the part of the transition of power is one of the strengths of Mexico, according to the WJP.

“There would be no reason to make this reform in terms of the credibility of the electoral institutions; the transition of power scores well, a little above the (global) average.”

a bad time in the world

The WJP highlighted that the data “shows that adherence to the rule of law fell in 61% of the countries surveyed this year (140), including Mexico.”

This is equivalent, it was stated in the analysis, to the fact that globally 4.4 billion people live in countries where the rule of law was weakened in 2022 compared to 2021.

At its heart, the rule of law is about fairness, that is, accountability, equal rights and justice for all. And a less equitable world is bound to be a more unstable world,” said Elizabeth Andersen, Executive Director of the WJP.

In the last place of the index this year was Venezuela (0.26), a place that it has occupied since 2015 consecutively.

Above the Oil Nation was Cambodia (0.31); Afghanistan (0.33); Democratic Republic of the Congo (0.34) and Haiti (0.35).

“The index data shows that the authoritarian trends that preceded the pandemic, such as the weakening of limits on executive powers and the increase in attacks on the media, continue to erode the rule of law around the world,” He referred.

In general, it was reported that respect for human rights decreased in two thirds of the 140 nations measured this 2022, while the limits to the Executive power, such as the supervision exercised by the media and other powers such as the Judicial and the Legislative, decreased in 58% of the countries measured.

In contrast, at the top of the ranking this year they were located, as they have done since 2015 uninterruptedly, in first place Denmark (0.90), followed by Norway (0.89).

In third place for this year are Finland (0.87), a place it has held since 2016; in fourth place was Sweden (0.86) and in fifth place the Netherlands (0.83).

politica@eleconomista.mx