Turkey ranked 117th out of 143 countries in the 2026 Rule of Law Index published by the World Justice Project (WJP), scoring 0.41 points.
The overall score for Turkey fell by 0.4 points compared to the previous year. Despite that the country rose one spot in the global overall rankings.
Score below regional average
The WJP evaluates Turkey within the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region, where the average score was calculated at 0.50. Turkey's score of 0.41 remained below the regional average. The country maintained its position at 14th out of 15 countries in its region.
The index measures the rule of law across eight categories: constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice, and criminal justice. The WJP assesses these eight categories through 44 sub-factors.
Representing 95% of the global population, the index compiles data from over 215,000 household surveys and 3,400 surveys conducted with lawyers and experts.
Scores in the index range from 0 to 1, with 1 representing the highest level of adherence to the rule of law and 0 representing the lowest.
'Order and security' improves
Turkey showed varied changes in global sub-category rankings. It rose from 79th to 67th place in order and security. Conversely, the country fell from 110th to 116th in open government and from 106th to 110th in criminal justice.
It dropped from 79th to 80th in absence of corruption, from 134th to 135th in fundamental rights, and from 118th to 120th in regulatory enforcement. Its rankings in constraints on government powers and civil justice remained unchanged at 136th and 127th, respectively.
Decline in freedom of expression
AnHaving recorded no decline in freedom of expression and opinion in the 2025 index, Turkey joined the countries experiencing a decline in this area in 2026. The opposite occurred in freedom of assembly and association, where Turkey recorded a decline in 2025 but avoided a drop in 2026. The civic participation indicator declined for two consecutive years.
The WJP also recorded a decline in 2026 regarding the judiciary's capacity to limit government powers. In contrast, Turkey recorded an improvement in the indicator for access to civil justice and its affordability. However, it failed to achieve progress in preventing discrimination within the civil justice system.
Global decline continues
European nations and New Zealand occupied all of the top 10 spots in the 2026 index.
Denmark ranked first with a score of 0.90, followed by Norway in second with 0.89 and Finland in third with 0.87. Sweden, Luxembourg, Germany, New Zealand, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Estonia followed.
The bottom five places in the list were occupied by Venezuela (0.26), Afghanistan (0.31), Haiti (0.31), Cambodia (0.31), and Nicaragua (0.32).
According to the global results of the index, the rule of law declined in 62% of countries in 2026 and improved in 38%. The number of countries experiencing declines exceeded those showing improvements for the ninth consecutive year. (HA/VK)
