New Zealand remains one of the world’s strongest performers on the rule of law, but its latest results indicate weakening safeguards for open government, public participation and checks on government power.
The World Justice Project’s 2026 Rule of Law Index, released on 21 October, places New Zealand seventh among 143 countries and jurisdictions, down from fifth last year. Our overall score fell from 0.834 to 0.829, a decline of about 0.6%. The World Justice Project combines surveys of the public and local legal experts, plus a small amount of external data, to assess how the rule of law works in practice.
It is concerning, however, that the largest declines involve people’s ability to participate in government, obtain information and challenge those in power.
Open government leads the decline
Five of the Index’s eight main factors declined for New Zealand this year. Open Government fell most sharply, from 0.823 to 0.804, taking us from sixth to ninth place.
Complaint mechanisms recorded the largest individual drop, from 0.834 to 0.793. This measure assesses whether people can complain about public services or officials and obtain a response.
Civic participation fell for the fifth consecutive year, reaching 0.803 compared with 0.837 in 2021. The right-to-information score also slipped, to 0.752, below its 2024 peak of 0.777.
Related freedoms have weakened too. Freedom of assembly and association has declined every year since 2021 and now ranks fifteenth. Freedom of expression and freedom of belief also recorded lower scores this year.
New Zealand’s results reflect a wider international pattern. Scores fell in 62% of countries, the ninth consecutive year in which declines outnumbered improvements. The World Justice Project identifies shrinking civic space and weakening checks on government power as central features of this trend.
New Zealand’s results across the eight factors
Weaker checks on power
Both measures assessing freedom from improper government influence in New Zealand’s civil and criminal justice systems are now at their lowest levels since at least 2019.
The criminal justice measure has fallen from 0.892 in 2021 to 0.844. Measures of the checks exercised by courts and Parliament over the executive also edged down.
These survey findings do not establish interference in particular cases. They do, however, warrant attention, especially alongside declining opportunities for public participation.
Regulatory enforcement presents another concern. Although New Zealand ranks sixth overall on this factor, the specific measure of whether regulations are effectively enforced has fallen for five consecutive years.
Improvements in justice and safety
There are positive results. Access to and affordability of civil justice reached its highest recorded score, rising from 0.719 in 2019 to 0.787. Civil justice also improved on freedom from discrimination and court delay, while administrative proceedings became more timely.
The measure of correctional services reducing reoffending continued to improve. Higher scores for crime control and people resolving grievances without violence helped lift New Zealand from twenty-second to nineteenth on Order and Security.
Absence of Corruption remained strong at sixth place. Within that result, however, Parliament remains a relative weakness. The legislative branch scores 0.765, compared with 0.870 for the executive, 0.934 for police and military, and 0.973 for the judiciary. That gap has persisted since at least 2019.
What might explain the changes?
The Index measures perceptions and experiences; it does not establish why scores change. Nevertheless, the areas of decline overlap with concerns, including from TINZ, about how laws are being made in New Zealand.
TINZ has an ongoing campaign around political integrity with the use of urgency in legislation and fast tracking of legislation one of the three focus areas.
In our article Faster is not better we highlight that:
‘The rule of law is being undermined by the volume of urgency used. Shorter consultation periods limit scrutiny of the Executive (those holding most power). The Executive needs evidence-based support, and challenge, by the public, the public service and politicians. This problem is reported on well in the New Zealand Law Society’s report ‘Strengthening the Rule of Law’
If politicians pay less regard for core elements of democracy, it should be no surprise if the public lose faith in their integrity, and in democracy in general. It is also hugely wasteful of public sector resources.’
Fast-track consenting has prompted debate about public input and concentrated decision-making power. The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment warned that the regime would politicise decisions; the Government argues that consenting delays have held back housing and infrastructure.
These debates provide context, rather than proven explanations for the Index results.
Looking beyond the ranking
The Index combines household polling with surveys of legal practitioners and other experts. Household polls are refreshed periodically, and survey timing means recent events may not be captured.
The overall fall is small. Narrow margins between leading countries mean modest score changes can reorder the rankings.
Over a decade, New Zealand’s overall score has barely moved. Beneath that stability, however, access to justice and privacy protections have improved while civic participation, freedom of assembly and some checks on government power have weakened repeatedly.
That longer-term pattern deserves more attention than a two-place movement alone.
