The rule of law is decreasing in Albania, year on year, despite ongoing reforms and rubber stamping from the European Union and European Commission.
The latest edition of the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index saw Albania fall four places to 78th out of 120 countries. It scored just 0.50 points out of a possible 1.00 and is ranked below Colombia, Suriname, Serbia, Ukraine, India, and Belarus.
Countries ranking worse than Albania include China, Russia, Sierra Leone, Mexico, and Turkey. Albania was outperformed regionally by Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Kosovo. Only Turkey and Moldova performed worse out of its nearest neighbors.
Top of this list was Denmark with 90 points, followed by Norway, Finland, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
In terms of constraints on government powers, a category that analyzes the extent to which those who govern are bound by the law and held accountable, including through a free and independent media, Albania came 96th. It managed to get just 0.45 points in this area, putting it among the worst countries in the world.
Under the absence of the corruption category, Albania fared even worse coming in at 100th. With a score of 0.37, this points to high levels of corruption throughout all areas of the country.
For open government, Albania got 0.47 points, ranking it at number 77. A poor but marginally better score.
Albania scored 0.59 points for fundamental human rights, 0.79 for order and security, and 0.44 for regulatory enforcement. Civil justice ranked poorly with just 0.48 points; criminal justice managed just 0.43.
Compared with last year, the constraints on the government decreased by 0.03, suggesting accountability and press freedom are getting worse.
