Ethiopia’s rule of law performance has deteriorated further, with the country ranking 133rd out of 143 countries and jurisdictions in the 2026 World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index, according to the ranking provided for this report.

The latest assessment extends a multi-year decline that has seen the country remain near the bottom of global and sub-Saharan African comparisons.

The 2026 index, released on October 21, comes as the WJP warns that authoritarian practices are becoming entrenched worldwide, with weakened checks on executive power, declining judicial independence and restrictions on fundamental freedoms contributing to a prolonged global deterioration in the rule of law.

The WJP said the global rule-of-law recession had continued for a ninth consecutive year, with 62 per cent of the countries and jurisdictions assessed recording declines, compared with 38 per cent that improved. Although the share of countries experiencing deterioration fell from 68 per cent in 2025, the overall direction remained negative.

The latest findings reinforce concerns about institutional accountability and civic freedoms in Ethiopia, where successive editions of the index have documented persistent weaknesses in constraints on government authority, fundamental rights, open government and the enforcement of regulations.

A sustained decline across successive editions

Ethiopia’s latest ranking follows a pattern documented by Addis Standard in previous years. In the 2025 edition, the country ranked 132nd out of 143 countries, with its overall score falling by 2.4 per cent from the previous year to 0.36. It placed 30th among 34 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting the depth of its institutional weaknesses relative to regional peers.

The decline has persisted across multiple editions. Ethiopia ranked 129th out of 142 countries in 2023, with a score of 0.38, after placing 123rd out of 140 countries in 2022. In the 2024 edition, it ranked 130th out of 142 countries, recording a further 2.4 per cent fall in its overall score.

The successive declines point to a longer-term deterioration rather than a one-year fluctuation. They also come against a backdrop of armed conflicts, restrictions on civic freedoms and concerns over the independence and effectiveness of public institutions.

Checks on government power, fundamental rights remain weak

The 2025 index offers a detailed picture of the areas contributing to Ethiopia’s poor performance. The country ranked 134th globally for constraints on government powers, 138th for fundamental rights, 135th for open government and 137th for regulatory enforcement. Its rankings were somewhat higher in civil justice, at 124th, and criminal justice, at 104th. It ranked 96th for absence of corruption.

The figures suggest that the weakest areas extend beyond the operation of courts. They include the mechanisms through which government decisions are scrutinised, public institutions are held accountable, and citizens exercise fundamental freedoms.

The WJP’s constraints-on-government-powers measure assesses whether those exercising public authority are bound by law and subject to institutional and non-governmental checks. These include legislative oversight, judicial limits on executive authority and the role of an independent press in holding government to account.

Ethiopia’s low ranking in this category is particularly significant given longstanding concerns about the relationship between political authority and independent institutions.

The country’s scores in open government and fundamental rights also point to persistent challenges involving access to information, civic participation and freedoms of expression, assembly and association.

The index does not, by itself, establish the cause of every institutional weakness or determine responsibility for individual violations. It provides a comparative assessment based on surveys of households and legal practitioners and experts, capturing how the rule of law is experienced and perceived.

Authoritarian practices have become entrenched

In its 2026 global findings, the WJP identified the expansion of authoritarian practices, the narrowing of civic space and the weakening of checks and balances as the principal forces behind the continuing global decline.

“Authoritarianism is no longer merely an emerging trend – it has become entrenched in many parts of the world,” Alejandro Ponce, the WJP’s executive director, said in the report’s accompanying statement.

The organisation said more than 86 per cent of countries and jurisdictions had experienced sustained five-year declines in at least one of three safeguards against authoritarian rule: constraints on government powers, open government or fundamental rights.

The latest assessment also found that freedom of opinion and expression declined in 64 per cent of countries, freedom of assembly and association in 67 per cent, and civic participation in 65 per cent. Judicial limits on government power deteriorated in 63 per cent of countries, while civil justice weakened in 64 per cent and criminal justice in 58 per cent.

The WJP said undue executive pressure and government interference were major drivers of institutional deterioration in both civil and criminal justice systems.

Although these are global findings rather than Ethiopia-specific figures, they provide context for the challenges reflected in Ethiopia’s repeated low rankings. The country’s performance in constraints on government power, fundamental rights and open government places those concerns at the centre of its rule-of-law record.

Conflicts and restrictions on civic space form part of the wider context

Ethiopia’s ranking comes amid continuing insecurity and serious human rights concerns across several regions. Armed conflicts in Amhara, Oromia and parts of Tigray have contributed to a difficult environment for civilian protection, access to justice and the exercise of basic freedoms.

Addis Standard has previously reported on extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances, as well as restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly.

A US State Department assessment of Ethiopia’s 2024 human rights record, reported by Addis Standard in August 2025, documented abuses attributed to state and non-state actors in the context of ongoing conflicts.

The media environment has also remained under pressure. In March 2026, Addis Standard reported on an assessment by International Media Support documenting continued intimidation, detention and harassment of journalists in Ethiopia. The report recorded at least 44 journalists abducted or detained during 2025, compared with 43 in 2024.

Such developments are relevant to the rule-of-law assessment because the index considers not only whether laws exist, but also how effectively institutions protect rights, enforce legal safeguards and constrain the exercise of public power.

However, the index’s aggregate score does not independently establish a direct causal relationship between any single conflict, detention or restriction and Ethiopia’s overall ranking. Rather, its indicators provide a broader framework for assessing institutional performance alongside other documented evidence.

Regional position underscores Ethiopia’s decline

Ethiopia’s 2025 position of 30th among 34 sub-Saharan African countries placed it near the bottom of the regional table. Its overall score of 0.36 was substantially below those of regional leaders, including Rwanda, Namibia and Mauritius.

The regional picture is itself mixed. The WJP has reported broad deterioration across sub-Saharan Africa, although some countries have recorded improvements in particular years. Ethiopia’s continued low placement nevertheless points to the difficulty of reversing the institutional weaknesses identified in successive editions.

Globally, the 2026 index covers 143 countries and jurisdictions and draws on more than 215,000 household surveys and 3,400 surveys of legal practitioners and experts. It assesses eight dimensions: constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice and criminal justice.

Scores range from zero to one, with higher scores indicating stronger adherence to the rule of law.

The annual index is designed to measure how people experience the rule of law in practice, rather than simply whether a country has laws, courts or formal constitutional protections, with its findings offering a comparative view of the relationship between legal institutions, public accountability and everyday access to justice.