Malaysia seventh in East Asia and Pacific on rule of law, strong on civil justice

In the 2026 World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index, Malaysia is ranked 53rd globally and 7th within East Asia and the Pacific, reflecting a slight improvement in its overall rule of law score amid a global decline.

The country demonstrated strong performances in civil and criminal justice, but ranked lower in areas such as fundamental rights and open government.

Notably, Malaysia maintained stability in key indicators like fundamental freedoms and civic participation, unlike the majority of nations which saw deterioration.

The index assesses 143 countries, with Denmark topping the global list while New Zealand leads the East Asia and Pacific region.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 — Malaysia ranked 53rd out of 143 countries globally and seventh among 15 countries in East Asia and the Pacific in the World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index 2026, placing it among the minority of nations that recorded an improvement amid a global decline in the rule of law.

The index, released today, showed that Malaysia’s overall score increased by less than one per cent to 0.57, while 62 per cent of countries worldwide experienced a deterioration in their rule of law performance.

According to the report, Malaysia ranked sixth out of 44 upper-middle-income countries.

The report stated that Malaysia did not record declines in several key indicators related to fundamental freedoms and civic participation, despite widespread deterioration in these areas globally.

“The country ranked 37th globally in civil justice, its strongest performance among the eight factors assessed, followed by criminal justice at 44th and regulatory enforcement at 46th.

“Malaysia also placed 51st in order and security, 54th in absence of corruption and 56th in constraints on government powers.

“However, the country recorded comparatively lower rankings in fundamental rights and open government, placing 77th and 104th globally, respectively,” the report read.

Among upper-middle-income countries, Malaysia ranked third in civil justice and fourth in both criminal justice and regulatory enforcement, but stood at 35th out of 44 countries in open government.

The report also highlighted that Malaysia did not record declines in several key indicators related to fundamental freedoms and civic participation, despite widespread deterioration in these areas globally.

These included freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of assembly and association, and civic participation, which declined in 64 per cent, 67 per cent and 65 per cent of countries surveyed, respectively.

Malaysia was also not among the countries that experienced a decline in judicial constraints on government powers, an indicator that deteriorated in 63 per cent of countries worldwide.

In addition, Malaysia recorded improvements in access to and affordability of civil justice, as well as civil justice free from discrimination, two indicators that improved in 54 per cent and 52 per cent of countries, respectively.

On global trends, the WJP found that authoritarian practices had become increasingly entrenched, with more than 86 per cent of countries experiencing a sustained five-year decline in at least one safeguard against authoritarian rule, including constraints on government powers, open government or fundamental rights.

Malaysia, however, was not among the countries that experienced such a sustained decline.

In East Asia and the Pacific, 11 of the 15 countries recorded a decline in their rule of law scores over the past year, with six experiencing declines for two consecutive years.

New Zealand emerged as the region’s top performer, ranking seventh globally, followed by Australia and Singapore, while the Philippines, Myanmar and Cambodia occupied the bottom three positions regionally.

Globally, Denmark topped the index, followed by Norway, Finland, Sweden and Luxembourg, while Venezuela ranked last, preceded by Afghanistan, Haiti, Cambodia and Nicaragua.

The WJP Rule of Law Index, published by the independent, nonpartisan WJP, measures the rule of law across 143 countries and jurisdictions covering 95 per cent of the world’s population, using data from expert assessments and household surveys.

To see Malaysia’s performance across all 44 sub-factors the Index measures, visit www.worldjusticeproject.org/rule-of-law-index/country/2026/Malaysia. — Bernama

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在 2026 年世界正义工程 (WJP) 法治指数中，马来西亚在全球排名第 53 位，在东亚和太平洋地区排名第 7 位，反映出在全球法治水平下降的情况下，其整体法治得分略有提高。

该国在民事和刑事司法方面表现出色，但在基本权利和开放政府等领域排名较低。

值得注意的是，与大多数国家基本自由和公民参与等关键指标恶化的情况不同，马来西亚保持了这些指标的稳定。

该指数对 143 个国家进行了评估，丹麦在全球排名中位居榜首，而新西兰则在东亚和太平洋地区领先。

吉隆坡，10 月 22 日——在世界正义工程 (WJP) 2026 年法治指数中，马来西亚在全球 143 个国家中排名第 53 位，在东亚和太平洋地区的 15 个国家中排名第 7 位，在全球法治水平下降的情况下，成为少数几个法治水平有所提高的国家之一。

今天发布的指数显示，马来西亚的总体得分上升不到 1%，达到 0.57，而全球 62% 的国家在法治方面的表现有所恶化。

根据该报告，马来西亚在44个中等偏上收入国家中排名第六。

报告指出，尽管全球范围内基本自由和公民参与等关键领域普遍恶化，但马来西亚在这些关键指标上并未出现下降。

“该国在民事司法方面排名全球第 37 位，这是其在评估的八个因素中表现最好的一次，其次是刑事司法，排名第 44 位，监管执法排名第 46 位。

“马来西亚在秩序和安全方面排名第 51 位，在反腐败方面排名第 54 位，在政府权力限制方面排名第 56 位。

报告指出：“然而，该国在基本权利和开放政府方面的排名相对较低，分别位列全球第77位和第104位。”

在中等偏上收入国家中，马来西亚在民事司法方面排名第三，在刑事司法和监管执法方面均排名第四，但在政府开放方面，在 44 个国家中排名第 35 位。

该报告还强调，尽管全球范围内基本自由和公民参与等关键领域普遍恶化，但马来西亚在这些领域并未出现下降。

这些自由包括意见和表达自由、集会和结社自由以及公民参与，在接受调查的国家中，这三项分别有 64%、67% 和 65% 的国家出现下降。

马来西亚也不在司法对政府权力的制约力下降的国家之列，而全球有 63% 的国家这一指标出现恶化。

此外，马来西亚在获得民事司法服务的机会和负担能力以及免受歧视的民事司法方面均有所改善，这两个指标分别在 54% 和 52% 的国家中得到改善。

世界正义工程发现，全球趋势表明，威权主义做法日益根深蒂固，超过 86% 的国家在至少一项防止威权统治的保障措施方面，连续五年持续下降，这些保障措施包括限制政府权力、开放政府或基本权利。

然而，马来西亚并不在经历这种持续衰退的国家之列。

在东亚和太平洋地区，15 个国家中有 11 个国家的法治得分在过去一年中有所下降，其中 6 个国家连续两年出现下降。

新西兰成为该地区表现最佳的国家，在全球排名第七，其次是澳大利亚和新加坡，而菲律宾、缅甸和柬埔寨则位列该地区倒数第三。

在全球范围内，丹麦位居榜首，其次是挪威、芬兰、瑞典和卢森堡，而委内瑞拉排名垫底，排在阿富汗、海地、柬埔寨和尼加拉瓜之前。

由独立、无党派的世界正义工程 (WJP) 发布的 WJP 法治指数，利用专家评估和家庭调查的数据，衡量了 143 个国家和地区（覆盖世界 95% 的人口）的法治状况。

要查看马来西亚在世界正义项目衡量的全部44个子因素中的表现，请访问www.worldjusticeproject.org/rule-of-law-index/country/2026/Malaysia。——马新社

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