Malta ranked 31st out of 143 countries in the latest World Justice Project Rule of Law Index, falling one place from last year and marking its lowest position since joining the index in 2021. Although its overall score of 0.67 remained unchanged, Malta continues to lag behind the regional average of 0.73, despite performing better than the global average of 0.55.
The index assesses public perceptions and experiences across several areas, including constraints on government powers, corruption, justice systems, and order and security. Nordic countries-Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden-once again dominate the top rankings. Malta shares its position with Portugal and Cyprus, placing just ahead of Italy, Poland, and Barbados.
While Malta performs relatively well in areas such as fundamental rights and justice system accessibility, its results have worsened in several other categories. The country’s ranking for constraints on government powers dropped from 39th to 43rd, reflecting weaknesses in holding officials accountable and in the effectiveness of legislative oversight. Similarly, Malta’s ranking for absence of corruption slipped from 39th to 40th, continuing a decline from its peak of 29th in 2022.
Perceptions of corruption vary by sector: the police and judiciary are viewed relatively positively, while the executive and legislative branches score poorly. These results highlight persistent concerns over political accountability and transparency.
The civil and criminal justice systems perform well in accessibility, due process, and effective investigations. However, lengthy court delays continue to undermine public confidence, echoing concerns raised in other rule of law reports. Malta performs strongly in order and security, ranking 12th globally and 7th regionally, with a perfect score for the absence of civil conflict but slightly below-average results for crime control.
Conversely, Malta’s open government score remains weak. The country ranks below both global and regional averages for right to information, civic participation, and government data transparency.
Overall, Malta has not improved its ranking in any of the seven fields assessed since joining the index in 2021, though it has made minor improvements in a few individual indicators. Compared with five years ago, it maintains the same standing in fundamental rights and criminal justice but has declined ten places in corruption perception and six places in constraints on government powers. These results suggest that while Malta performs respectably by global standards, it continues to face significant governance and accountability challenges within a regional context that demands higher standards.
