The World Justice Project is a multinational, multidisciplinary initiative to strengthen the rule of law worldwide. It does so by building a broad and diverse global constituency to advance the rule of law as a foundation for thriving communities.

The World Justice Project working definition of the rule of law comprises four universal principles:

1. the government and its officials and agents are accountable under the law;
2. the laws are clear, publicized, stable and fair, and protect fundamental rights, including the security of persons and property;
3. the process by which the laws are enacted, administered and enforced is accessible, fair and efficient; and
4. the laws are upheld, and access to justice is provided, by competent, independent, and ethical law enforcement officials, attorneys or representatives, and judges who are of sufficient number, have adequate resources, and reflect the makeup of the communities they serve.

The rule of law provides the foundation for communities of opportunity and equity, and for success in all fields of endeavor. Successful efforts to build societies characterized by peace, economic prosperity, an absence of corruption, health and literacy all require the rule of law. The rule of law makes possible the essentials of daily life – including safety, jobs, health, education, and justice.

The World Justice Project is distinguished by the participation of organizations and leaders from diverse fields and sectors. The leaders and organizations participating in the World Justice Project represent such fields of endeavor as architecture, arts, business, education, engineering, environment, faith, human rights, labor, law, law enforcement, media, military, public health, public safety, and science.

Many people do not make the connection between the rule of law and the essentials of their daily lives – their safety, jobs, health, education, and infrastructure. In communities where the rule of law is relatively strong, these essentials are taken for granted. Where the rule of law is weak, these life essentials are largely absent. Yet advancing the rule of law has not been in the mainstream of efforts to deliver these essentials to more people.

The World Justice Project is engaging a variety of disciplines as collaborators to strengthen the rule of law around the world. In so doing, the World Justice Project seeks to make the rule of law as fundamental to the thinking and actions of these disciplines as it is to lawyers.

The World Justice Project is independent and neutral. It does not take political positions on the issues it addresses.

The World Justice Project and/or World Justice Forum are co-sponsored by leading organizations representing a variety of disciplines around the world. Current sponsors include:

A range of notable persons from around the world serve as honorary chairpersons of the World Justice Project. Click on the link for a list of Honorary Chairs.

The World Justice Project employs a multi-pronged strategy to engage the expertise, and build the commitment and actions, of disciplinary leaders worldwide. Since the World Justice Project’s start in December 2006, substantial progress has been made in each of the Project’s four complementary program areas:

• Mainstreaming rule of law advancement through a series of multidisciplinary outreach meetings on five continents with leaders from more than 15 fields of endeavor;
• Rigorous scholarship led by two groups of prominent international scholars, examining the relationship between the rule of law and thriving communities and how marginalized groups access justice
• A Rule of Law Index, currently being tested, that will assess countries’ adherence to the rule of law and identify areas where a country’s rule of law is weak: and
• The World Justice Forum, of 500 global leaders, held in Vienna, Austria on July 2-5, 2008.

The World Justice Project brought together more than 240 leaders from 72 countries at its five regional meetings in the United States, the Czech Republic, Argentina, Singapore and Ghana. At each of these meetings, leaders from such fields as business, education, journalism, law and medicine have discussed the rule of law and unanimously concluded that the rule of law is essential to the success of their professional efforts and to their communities.

The meeting in Ghana also launched the World Justice Project’s pilot small grants program, which is funding initiatives by faith, labor, public health, women’s rights and other organizations to advance the rule of law in 11 Sub-Saharan African countries. In the United States, similar multidisciplinary outreach meetings are being sponsored by state bar associations and other local organizations to develop networks and initiatives to strengthen the rule of law at the U.S. state level.

Two groups of international scholars conducted original research for the World Justice Project. The first group explores the relationship between the rule of law and communities of opportunity and equity. It was led by Nobel Laureate Dr. James Heckman and includes Nobel Laureate Dr. Amartya Sen, in addition to distinguished legal scholars, political scientists and economists. The second group conducted comparative field studies on how marginalized groups access justice – for example, peasants in China, pastoralists in Kenya, the Maori in New Zealand, the Roma in Eastern Europe, and women in Pakistan. This group was led by Professor Yash Ghai, a constitutional and human rights scholar.

The scholars’ findings will be published by Routledge Press in 2009.

Although many organizations do excellent work measuring aspects of the rule of law, no single index comprehensively assesses how well individual countries are adhering to the rule of law. To address this gap, the WJP is developing and pilot-testing a new Rule of Law Index.

The Index is a powerful tool that enables government and non-government leaders, as well as civil society, to assess and strengthen countries’ adherence to the rule of law. The Index, which utilizes a rigorous methodology and will be periodically administered to show changes over time, will publish information that governments, businesses, and civil society organizations can use to:

• identify priorities for reform;
• ascertain successes that can be replicated;
• promote specific improvements, and
• provide a reliable risk assessment tool.

The World Justice Forum brought together 450 governmental and non-governmental leaders from diverse disciplines throughout the world. Participants included past heads of state, leaders of multilateral institutions, CEOs of multinational corporations, labor leaders, representatives of disciplines ranging from the arts to education and medicine, and distinguished international scholars.

The World Justice Forum publicly launched a multinational and multidisciplinary movement to advance the rule of law. This “founders conference” developed collaborative actions by leaders from various fields of endeavor to strengthen the rule of law within and across countries. The Forum featured discussions on multidisciplinary approaches to advancing the rule of law, the scholarship, and the administration of the Rule of Law Index in a number of countries.

Future Forums will bring participants together on an annual basis to review progress made, develop new projects to create healthy and just communities, and strengthen the networks and knowledge of those committed to advancing the rule of law.

The Forum is by invitation only.

The World Justice Project is funded by foundations, professional firms, corporations, individual donors, the American Bar Association, and governments outside the United States. Foundation funders include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Irish Aid has provided bilateral funding.