Malta ranked 31st out of 143 countries in a rule of law index published on Thursday, falling one place from last year.
The index, compiled by the World Justice Project, measures people’s perceptions and experiences of rule of law within their respective countries, looking into issues of law and order, the justice system and corruption, among other things.
Although Malta’s score of 0.67 on the index remained unchanged from last year, its new ranking represents its lowest placing since it joined the index in 2021. It had previously always placed 30th.
Although Malta scores well above the global average (0.55), it remains below the regional (Europe and North America) average score of 0.73.
Nordic countries dominate the index, with Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden occupying the top four spots. Malta finds itself tied with Portugal and Cyprus, ranked just above Italy, Poland and Barbados.
The index suggests that while Malta has made some strides in some areas, such as fundamental rights, it has dipped more drastically in several others.
Malta’s score for constraints on government powers has continued to decline, dropping from 39th place last year to 43rd place today. The index suggests that this is mostly driven by a failure to adequately sanction government officials for misconduct and the relatively lax limits placed on government powers by the legislature.
Although the country has improved its placing for absence of corruption (from 39th last year to 40th), it remains well below the high of 29th recorded in 2022.
While Malta scores above average for absence of corruption within the police and the judiciary, it fared poorly when it comes to corruption within the executive branch and the legislature, both scoring well below average.
Meanwhile, Malta’s civil and criminal justice system score strongly in several areas, including accessibility and affordability, effective investigations and due process. However the justice system remain blighted by Malta’s well-documented court delays, according to the index, reflecting several other rule of law reports which have flagged the issue as an ongoing concern.
Malta also scores strongly for order and security, ranking 12th in the world and 7th across the EU and North America. While Malta received a perfect score for the absence of civil conflict, it scored slightly below the regional average when it comes to crime control.
Malta’s score for open governance also came under scrutiny, with the country scoring below the global average for the right to information, with the rate of civic participation, the effectiveness of complaint mechanisms and the availability of government data all scoring below the EU average.
The index shows that Malta has failed to improve its ranking in any of the seven fields assessed, since first joining the index in 2021, despite marginally improving its index score in some areas.
Malta’s ranking remained the same as five years ago when it comes to fundamental rights and the criminal justice system, but has dropped ten places in the perception of corruption and six places in the constraints on government powers.