[JURIST] A new tool for measuring adherence to the rule of law developed by the World Justice Project (WJP) [advocacy website] was presented at the World Justice Forum [PDF agenda] in Vienna Thursday. The development of the Rule of Law Index [WJP backgrounder] was sponsored by the American Bar Association [profession website] and is based on principles [WJP mission statement] which emphasize the relationship between the rule of law and the quality of people's everyday lives. AP has more.

Developing a more quantitatively-oriented assessment tool was deemed important because dictators often use the language of democracy to legitimize their actions. In its World Report 2008 [HRW index], Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] criticized established democracies for not doing enough to expose dubious democratic claims by authoritarian regimes.