The World Justice Project

What The World Justice Project does

The World Justice Project (WJP) is an independent, multidisciplinary 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2008 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., dedicated to advancing the rule of law worldwide. Its flagship product is the WJP Rule of Law Index®, an annual quantitative assessment covering 142 countries and built on more than 214,000 household and expert surveys per edition, scored across 44 indicators and 8 categories: Constraints on Government Powers, Absence of Corruption, Open Government, Fundamental Rights, Order and Security, Regulatory Enforcement, Civil Justice, and Criminal Justice. WJP extends the methodology into adjacent products including the WJP Open Government Index, the Environmental Governance Indicators for Latin America and the Caribbean (co-developed with the Inter-American Development Bank), Global Insights on Access to Justice, Measuring the Justice Gap, country and subnational reports, working papers, and policy briefs.

WJP does not sell data or software; all research outputs are distributed free of charge as public goods, and the organization is funded through grants from foundations and government agencies, supplemented by donations. Its go-to-market is event-driven and content-driven rather than sales-driven, anchored on the biennial World Justice Forum (most recently Forum VI in The Hague in 2019), the World Justice Challenge grant competition, the WJP Scholars Conference, the Anthony Lewis Prize for Exceptional Rule of Law Journalism, the Rule of Law Talk podcast, and a Community Forum platform. Distribution is amplified through strategic partnerships with multilateral bodies (OECD, UNDP, UNDESA, IDB), leading academic institutions (Duke, Stanford, Carnegie Endowment), and civil society organizations (Open Society Foundations, Pathfinders, IDLO, International IDEA). The customer base spans governments and policymakers, academics and researchers, civil society organizations, the private sector, and international development organizations, all of which consume WJP outputs to benchmark rule of law adherence, support policy development, conduct empirical research, and monitor progress on UN SDG 16.

Name

The World Justice Project

Legal name

World Justice Project

Website

https://worldjusticeproject.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The World Justice Project is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit that produces the WJP Rule of Law Index and related research to measure rule of law across 142 countries, serving governments, academics, civil society, and international organizations via grants-funded publications and convenings.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Rule of Law Research

NAICS

National Security and International Affairs (9281), Courts (92211), Other Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities (922190)

SIC

International Affairs (9721), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Rule of Law & Justice Sector Reform (BPADAGAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Judicial Courts & Court Administration (BPAIAFAA), State/Provincial Courts & Judicial Administration (BPAIABAE)

Keywords

• Rule of law research
• Rule of law index
• Access to justice
• Governance indicators
• Judicial measurement

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation and Government Grants: WJP operates as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization funded primarily through grants from foundations and government agencies. The organization describes supporters on its website and accepts donations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

The World Justice Project produces the WJP Rule of Law Index, a quantitative assessment that measures adherence to the rule of law across 142 countries using more than 214,000 household surveys and qualified expert surveys scored on 44 indicators across 8 categories. Complementing the Index, WJP conducts topical research programs on open government, access to justice, environmental governance, and corruption, and operates engagement vehicles such as the World Justice Forum, the World Justice Challenge, the WJP Scholars Conference, and the Anthony Lewis Prize.

Product overview

The World Justice Project is an independent, multidisciplinary nonprofit organization that advances the rule of law worldwide through research, measurement, and engagement programs. Its core product is the WJP Rule of Law Index®, a quantitative assessment tool covering 142 countries with 44 indicators across 8 categories, alongside the WJP Open Government Index™ and the Environmental Governance Indicators for Latin America and the Caribbean. WJP's portfolio includes thematic research reports (Global Insights on Access to Justice, Measuring the Justice Gap, Corruption in the Caribbean), country-specific reports, working papers, policy briefs, and edited volumes. Engagement programs include the biennial World Justice Forum, the World Justice Challenge grant competition, the WJP Scholars Conference series, and the Anthony Lewis Prize for Exceptional Rule of Law Journalism. WJP also produces the Rule of Law Talk podcast and maintains a Community Forum for practitioners. Collectively, these offerings form a research-and-data platform supported by engagement programs, rather than a commercial technology product with modules or APIs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• WJP Rule of Law Index: The organization's flagship annual index measuring rule of law adherence across countries using expert surveys and household polls
• World Justice Forum
• World Justice Challenge
• Anthony Lewis Prize
• WJP Open Government Index
• Rule of Law Research Consortium
• World Justice Forum VI
• Rule of Law Talk
• World Justice Challenge 2021
• Environmental Governance Indicators for Latin America and the Caribbean
• Corruption in the Caribbean
• Global Insights on Access to Justice
• Measuring the Justice Gap

Products and services

• WJP Rule of Law Index Annual cross-national quantitative assessment of how the rule of law is experienced and observed in 142 countries; intended for governments, courts, multilaterals, academics, civil society, and the legal profession.
• WJP Open Government Index Index assessing open government performance across countries, used by governments and civil society to evaluate transparency and civic participation.
• WJP Mexico States Rule of Law Index Subnational index applying the WJP methodology to measure rule-of-law conditions across states in Mexico, for use by subnational policymakers and researchers.
• Environmental Governance Indicators for Latin America and the Caribbean Regional indicators study evaluating environmental governance performance across Latin American and Caribbean countries.
• Global Insights on Access to Justice Global research publication examining access-to-justice outcomes and unmet legal needs worldwide.
• Measuring the Justice Gap Research publication quantifying unmet civil legal needs and the global justice gap.
• Corruption in the Caribbean Regional research publication examining corruption patterns and rule-of-law outcomes in the Caribbean.
• World Justice Forum Multi-stakeholder convening organized by WJP bringing together leaders from government, civil society, academia, and the private sector to advance rule-of-law reform.
• World Justice Challenge Engagement program supporting innovative, on-the-ground rule-of-law projects through competitive selection and recognition.
• Anthony Lewis Prize Named award recognizing individuals who have made outstanding contributions to advancing the rule of law.
• Rule of Law Talk Podcast Podcast series produced by WJP featuring discussions with experts and practitioners on rule-of-law topics.

Quantifiable outcome

• 142 countries assessed through the Rule of Law Index
• +3 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

21 partnerships are on record, tiered secondary and core.

• Chandler FoundationsecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 July 2020Co-hosted webinar on 'Corruption and the Rule of Law in the Time of COVID-19: Spotlight on Asia Pacific' with WJP and Open Government Partnership.
• Open Government PartnershipsecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 July 2020Co-hosted webinar on 'Corruption and the Rule of Law in the Time of COVID-19: Spotlight on Asia Pacific' with WJP and Chandler Foundation.
• Carnegie Endowment for International PeacecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 September 2014Co-convened 'Violence and Improving Rule of Law: Organized Crime, Marginalized Communities and the Political Machine' workshop in September 2014, bringing together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to catalyze policy-relevant research.
• Stanford UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 September 2014Co-convened the 2014 violence and rule of law workshop with Carnegie Endowment and WJP. Hosted 2018 WJP Scholars Conference at Duke Law School (alongside Duke).
• Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-published the Environmental Governance Indicators for Latin America and the Caribbean, representing the first-ever cross-country assessment of how environmental governance functions in practice in 10 countries including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Jamaica, Peru, and Uruguay.
• Bingham Centre for the Rule of LawcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-producing partner for World Justice Forum VI in 2019, contributing to the premier international event for the rule of law movement.
• Hague Institute for the Internationalisation of Law (Hiil)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-producing partner for World Justice Forum VI and collaborator on Hague Journal on the Rule of Law special edition. Also partnered on 'Innovations in Rule of Law - A Compilation of Concise Essays' publication.
• Netherlands Ministry of Foreign AffairscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-producing partner for World Justice Forum VI, supporting the global effort to deliver on the promise of 'justice for all' of UN SDG 16.
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-producing partner for World Justice Forum VI and collaborator on anti-corruption initiatives including the 2021 OECD Global Anti-Corruption & Integrity Forum session on transparent procurement.
• Open Society Foundations / Open Society Justice InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-producing partner for World Justice Forum VI. OSJI also collaborated on the Access to Civil Justice Indicator Proposal for SDG Target 16.3.3.
• Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive SocietiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-produced 'Grasping the Justice Gap' paper and co-sponsored World Justice Challenge webinars on access to justice and COVID-19 recovery.
• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on Access to Civil Justice Indicator Proposal for SDG Target 16.3.3, advancing the goal of ensuring equal access to justice for all.
• Duke University Law SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost of the 2018 WJP Scholars Conference focusing on 'The Rule of Law: Subnational, Supranational, and Empirical' themes.
• International Development Law Organization (IDLO)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsored World Justice Challenge webinar on 'Access to Justice for All and the COVID-19 Pandemic' and contributed to Innovations in Rule of Law publication.
• International IDEAsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsored World Justice Challenge webinar on 'Accountable Governance and the COVID-19 Pandemic' and co-hosted webinar on impact of COVID-19 on democracy and rule of law in Latin America.
• International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsored World Justice Challenge webinar on 'Accountable Governance and the COVID-19 Pandemic'.
• CIVICUSsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsored World Justice Challenge webinar on 'Fundamental Rights and Non-Discrimination in the COVID-19 Pandemic'.
• International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsored World Justice Challenge webinar on 'Fundamental Rights and Non-Discrimination in the COVID-19 Pandemic'.
• Bertelsmann FoundationsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-hosted webinar 'Five Falling Stars: The Decline of Rule of Law and Democratic Multilateralism' examining political regression in Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa, and Turkey.
• Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung BrusselssecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-hosted webinar on rule of law challenges in Africa and the European Neighborhood focused on COVID-19 developments.
• United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to register civil society acceleration actions toward achieving UN SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions), featured on UNDESA's website as part of the Justice for All campaign.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• V-Dem Institute (Varieties of Democracy): V-Dem produces the world's most comprehensive democracy dataset using expert-coded indicators across more than 200 countries, mirroring WJP's expert-survey approach and overlapping strongly on rule-of-law and judicial-independence dimensions.
• Bertelsmann Foundation (Transformation Index - BTI): BTI assesses the transformation status of 137 developing and transition countries toward democracy and market economy, with explicit rule-of-law scoring — making it a directly comparable country-level governance benchmark for WJP.
• Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL): HiiL produces global Justice Needs and Satisfaction data and runs innovation programming on access to justice; it is a direct WJP partner and its user-centered justice measurement overlaps with WJP's Global Insights on Access to Justice.
• Transparency International (Corruption Perceptions Index): TI's CPI ranks 180 countries by perceived public-sector corruption, overlapping directly with WJP's Absence of Corruption factor and serving similar government, donor, and civil-society audiences.

Emerging players

• International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA): International IDEA produces the Global State of Democracy indices covering democratic performance including rule of law; it is also a WJP partner, but its dataset and country assessments overlap with WJP for the same democracy-support community.

Broad incumbents

• Heritage Foundation (Index of Economic Freedom): Index of Economic Freedom scores 184 countries on rule of law, government size, regulatory efficiency, and market openness — overlapping with WJP's Regulatory Enforcement and Constraints on Government Powers factors for investors and policymakers.
• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP): UNDP produces governance and SDG 16 monitoring tools and is a WJP partner; its global development indicators overlap with WJP's justice-gap and rule-of-law work for UN agencies, donors, and country governments.
• OECD (Better Life Index, Governance Indicators): OECD produces cross-country governance and well-being indicators and is itself a WJP partner; its broader portfolio of indicators competes for the same multilateral, governmental, and academic audience as the Rule of Law Index.
• Freedom House (Freedom in the World): Freedom House scores political rights and civil liberties across roughly 210 countries and territories; its rule-of-law component overlaps with WJP's Fundamental Rights and Open Government dimensions for the same global policy and donor audience.
• World Bank (Worldwide Governance Indicators): The WGI is the most widely cited cross-country governance dataset, covering voice/accountability, political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, and control of corruption — directly overlapping WJP's Rule of Law Index for governments, donors, and researchers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/thewjp
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/worldjusticeproject
• Facebookfacebook.com/259898782812
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-world-justice-project

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The World Justice Project