The Government of Guyana has raised concerns over the accuracy and reliability of the World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index 2025, citing the use of outdated data and opaque research methods in determining the country’s latest global ranking.
In a statement issued by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance on Thursday, the Government acknowledged the publication of the report, which ranked Guyana 80th in the world, a slight decline from 78th in 2024. However, it emphasised that the index does not accurately reflect Guyana’s current governance and justice environment, given that the data used dates back as far as 2018 and 2022.
According to the Ministry, the household polling data underpinning the 2025 ranking originated from surveys conducted by the StatMark Group, a little-known entity whose findings were never made public. “Neither of these face-to-face surveys were ever made public at the time, nor does the public know of the StatMark Group,” the release stated.
The Ministry underscored that while the WJP report links stronger rule of law with stronger economies, it fails to align this premise with Guyana’s current economic and institutional realities. “Guyana, as one of the fastest growing economies, is a living example of this,” the statement noted, adding that the index overlooks the extensive institutional and legislative reforms implemented across the governance and justice sectors since 2022.
The Government said that while international assessments play an important role in benchmarking progress, they must be transparent, methodologically sound, and based on recent data. “The 2025 report, without question, relies on older datasets… It cannot be construed as a real reflection of Guyana’s 2025 realities,” the statement stressed.
The Ministry also questioned the credibility of the expert perception component used in the index, noting that most contributors were anonymous. “It cannot be that the perceptions of a few anonymous people are considered representative of the entire population of approximately 800,000,” it argued, calling for more rigorous sampling and validation processes to ensure accuracy.
Further, the Ministry cautioned local media and the public against uncritical repetition of international rankings, urging them instead to “consult official data sources and exercise critical review” when interpreting third-party reports. It added that while global indices may provide “attractive sound bites,” they hold little analytical value without access to nominal scores and underlying datasets.
Reaffirming its commitment to transparency and international cooperation, the Government pointed to Guyana’s recent participation in two major global reviews — under the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) — as evidence of its openness to independent scrutiny.
Nonetheless, it maintained that global agencies must ensure that their methodologies are robust and that data are current and representative, especially for developing countries. “The use of outdated data from 2018 and 2022 must not be misconstrued as depicting Guyana’s 2025 governance environment,” the Ministry concluded.
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