According to the World Justice Project Report, among the 12 countries in this comparison, Italy ranks 12th in maintaining a relevant and applicable rule of law among its government, citizens, and nongovernmental influences. The United States is only slightly better than Italy, ranking 11th among the 12.

	Limited Government	CPI Score	Order and Security	Fundamental Rights	Open Government	Regulatory Enforcement	Civil Justice	Criminal Justice
Australia	0.81	0.77	0.87	0.78	0.80	0.81	0.74	0.73
Canada	0.83	0.75	0.91	0.81	0.79	0.81	0.69	0.74
Denmark	0.95	0.90	0.93	0.92	0.87	0.90	0.87	0.83
France	0.73	0.67	0.79	0.74	0.76	0.76	0.70	0.63
Germany	0.86	0.75	0.89	0.85	0.79	0.86	0.83	0.78
Italy	0.72	0.54	0.75	0.73	0.63	0.63	0.58	0.64
Japan	0.73	0.71	0.92	0.78	0.70	0.80	0.78	0.76
Netherlands	0.85	0.78	0.85	0.84	0.83	0.85	0.84	0.75
Norway	0.93	0.81	0.93	0.91	0.87	0.87	0.84	0.84
Sweden	0.86	0.80	0.92	0.86	0.85	0.83	0.83	0.80
United Kingdom	0.82	0.71	0.84	0.81	0.80	0.80	0.70	0.70
United States	0.69	0.65	0.83	0.68	0.76	0.72	0.63	0.61

SOURCE:

Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index

Scores for each category range from 0-1 where 1 is the best score.

Page updated on .6/12/2025

NOTES

“The Right to Counsel in Civil Proceedings: An International Perspective” William C Silverman

April 11, 2019.
A 2017 study showed that 71% of low-income households in the US experienced at least one civil legal problem, and of those, 86% “received inadequate or no legal help.” According to the World Justice Project’s 2019 Rule of Law Index, the U.S. ranks low at 99th out of 126 countries.