Bangladesh ranked 115th out of 128 countries in the 2020 edition of the Rule of Law Index.
With the score of 0.41 point out of 1.0, the country also ranked fourth in the South Asian (SA) region, where Bangladesh is only ahead of Pakistan (120th global position) and Afghanistan (122).
Bangladesh lagged behind the average regional score of 0.45 and global score of 0.56, according to the index.
The South Asian country was 112th out of 126 countries in the 2019 edition of the index.
The United States (US) - based global civil society platform World Justice Project (WJP) on Wednesday released the index report which took eight factors into consideration like limitation of government power, corruption, fundamental rights and justice.
Among other South Asian nations, Nepal, Sri Lanka and India hold 61st, 66th and 69th positions respectively, the report said.
The World Justice Project (WJP) developed the WJP Rule of Law Index to serve as a quantitative tool for measuring the rule of law in practice.
"The Index's methodology and comprehensive definition of the rule of law are the products of intensive consultation and vetting with academics, practitioners, and community leaders from more than 100 countries and jurisdictions and 17 professional disciplines," the WJP said in its report.
The WJP Rule of Law Index 2020 presents a portrait of the rule of law in 128 countries and jurisdictions by providing scores and rankings based on eight factors: Constraints on Government Powers, Absence of Corruption, Open Government, Fundamental Rights, Order and Security, Regulatory Enforcement, Civil Justice, and Criminal Justice.
According to the report, Bangladesh ranked 122th with a score of 0.32 point in terms of Fundamental Rights.
It also said among 30 lower-middle income countries, Bangladesh ranked 21st.
Denmark secured the top position in the index with the score of 0.90, is followed by Norway, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand, Austria, Canada and Estonia.
The two new countries and jurisdictions added to the latest edition of the index were Kosovo and Gambia, the WJP report said.
