The World Justice Project ranked Morocco in 92nd place out of 142 for 2023, one of only a minority of countries that improved their position in the organization’s latest Rule of Law Index that ranks countries based upon criteria including human rights, access to justice, corruption, and authoritarianism.
Although this was a slight improvement over last year when Morocco ranked overall 94th, this comes after several years of a downward trend, dropping from 90th in 2021, from 79th in 2020, and from 74th in 2019.
This year, the Kingdom ranks sixth in the MENA region, well behind the UAE (37), Jordan (52), Tunisia (62), and even Algeria (84).
On the African continent, Morocco ranks 12th, after Rwanda (41), Namibia (44), Mauritius (46), Botswana (51), South Africa (56), Senegal (60), Ghana (61), Tunisia, Algeria, Gambia (85), and Benin (90).
With regard to the specific criteria that make up the overall ranking, from best to worst, the Kingdom placed 66 in regular law enforcement, 72 in civil justice, 76 in constraints on government power, 88 for the absence of corruption, 89 in order and security, 95 in criminal justice, 101 for open government, and 114 in fundamental rights.
The World Justice Project defines the “rule of law” as a “durable system of laws, institutions, norms, and community commitment” that delivers “accountability, just laws, open government, and accessible justice.” The effective rule of law is the “foundation for communities of justice, health, opportunity, and peace,” it states on its website.