GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Guyana says. At the same time, it remains open to continued engagement with international stakeholders. It would continue to advocate the necessity of continuous scrutiny of methodologies, transparent disclosure of sample sizes, and timely updates to datasets to ensure that global indices accurately portray current conditions, particularly for countries in the global south.
The Irfaan Ali government has raised concerns following the latest publication of the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2025, in which the country is ranked 80th, down from 78th last year.
“ The 2025 report, without question, relies on older datasets, including household polling data that originates from 2018 and 2022 by the StatMark Group. Of note, neither of these face-to-face surveys was ever made public at the time, nor does the public know of the StatMark Group,” the Government said in a statement.
Guyana remains open to continued engagement with international partners and other monitoring mechanisms, as evidenced by the two large-scale reviews undertaken this year under the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
“However, the Government continues to underscore the necessity for continuous scrutiny of methodologies, transparent disclosure of sample sizes, and the timely updating of datasets to ensure that global indices accurately portray current conditions, particularly for countries in the global south. The use of outdated data from 2018 and 2022 must not be misconstrued as depicting Guyana’s 2025 governance environment,” the statement said.
The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance said the work of the international stakeholders complement the country’s own ongoing commitments under international frameworks including the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), the Inter-American Convention against Corruption through the MESICIC, the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), and the International Monetary Fund Article IV, UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights, UN Human Rights Council, UN Treaty Bodies and other development partners.
It said that, by its own admission, the 2025 report states, “Where the rule of law is stronger, so is the economy.” Guyana, as one of the fastest-growing economies, is a living example of this.
“The report, therefore, cannot be construed as a real reflection of Guyana’s 2025 realities, particularly given ongoing institutional and legislative reforms across governance and justice sectors after 2022, and certainly since 2018.”
The Government said it is urging the media and the public to consult official data sources and exercise critical review when interpreting or reproducing third-party publications, particularly in this case, where the data used is 7 years old.
“While these rankings, such as in the WJP 2025 Rule of Law Index 2025, may provide attractive sound bites for some, on closer examination, they do not independently reflect progress unless accompanied by nominal scores and underlying datasets.
“The absence of detailed nominal values for the sub-factors limits the analytical value of the rankings, especially in the context of informing policy application and public understanding,” Georgetown added.
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