Modern societies require stability and a clear system for resolving conflicts both within a community and between people and the state. The rule of law is one of the foundations of democratic governance, ensuring that the same rules, standards, and principles apply to all individuals and organisations, including the government itself. The rule of law requires that everyone is treated equally in accordance with the law and receives fair treatment from independent and impartial courts (Venice Commission, 2011). The legal culture is enshrined in laws, codes, statues, traditions, rulings procedures and international agreements. Strengthening the rule of law is an essential prerequisite for ensuring the effective provision of public goods and services, for promoting economic development, maintaining peace and order, and ensuring accountability in the case of integrity breaches and corruption.
Judicial independence guarantees that judges are free to decide openly and impartially without fear of interference. On average, only 42.1% of respondents to the OECD Trust Survey expect that a court in their country be impartial on a decision that could negatively influence the government’s image. Perceptions are most positive in Ireland (58%), Denmark (56%) and the Netherlands (53%), where more than half of respondents expect the judiciary to make decisions free from political influence (Figure 4.13).
Additional sources of data provide a more comprehensive picture. The World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index assesses several dimensions of the rule of law. During the COVID-19 pandemic, governments temporarily restricted parts of citizens’ liberties and introduced exceptional governance procedures. Once government restrictions and emergency measures had been lifted, OECD countries fared slightly better on the index than before the pandemic and this may indicate a high level of resilience and the adaptability of their institutional frameworks and legal systems (Grogan 2022; WJP 2022).
Most OECD countries score highly across the WJP index dimensions. The constraints on government powers dimension of the WJP index measures the ability to exercise checks and controls on other parts of the government (i.e. effective horizontal accountability) and non-government checks such as a free and independent press; accountability and sanctioning of government officials; and transition of power subject to the law. The fundamental rights dimension covers how far governments abide by international human rights established under the United National Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including rights to equal treatment and absence of discrimination, to life and security, and to freedom of opinion and expression. The two dimensions are highly correlated across countries. With scores above or close to 0.9 (where 0 is the weakest and 1 the strongest adherence to the rule of law) Nordic countries are top performers on both dimensions (Figure 4.14).
