Hong Kong has retained its high overall ranking in the 2024 World Justice Project Rule of Law Index, landing sixth in East Asia and the Pacific and 23rd out of 142 countries and jurisdictions globally.

The city’s score in respect of "Absence of Corruption" is higher than last year and ranks 10th globally while it also showed improvement in "Regulatory Enforcement" and "Civil Justice", the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government said in a statement.

“Hong Kong remains high in the overall ranking and continues to be ahead of some European and American countries which often unreasonably criticize the rule of law and human rights situation of Hong Kong,” the HKSAR government said.

Released by the international civil society group World Justice Project, the index relies on more than 214,000 household surveys and 3,500 legal practitioner and expert surveys to measure how the rule of law is experienced worldwide.

ALSO READ: HK govt: SAR's overall ranking high on rule of law index

The index provides data organized into “eight factors” that encompass the concept of the rule of law: Constraints on Government Powers, Absence of Corruption, Open Government, Fundamental Rights, Order and Security, Regulatory Enforcement, Civil Justice, and Criminal Justice.

Under "Open Government", Hong Kong maintained its score and global ranking last year, showing that the city has a comprehensive regulatory enforcement mechanism and civil justice system under "one country, two systems", the HKSAR government said.  

“The continuous improvements in these areas are conducive to the construction of the rule of law and the business environment, which consolidate and enhance Hong Kong's ‘eight centers’ positioning under the National 14th Five-Year Plan,” the government said.

“This shows that Hong Kong remains to be one of the most corruption-free places in the world and that the effectiveness of its anti-corruption efforts has been recognized internationally,” it added.

READ MORE: HK's continued success depends on rule of law

While Hong Kong's scores slightly dropped in relation to "Constraints on Government Powers", "Fundamental Rights", "Order and Security" and "Criminal Justice", the city's rankings in East Asia and the Pacific remain almost unchanged.

The HKSAR government said this showed the the successful implementation of the "one country, two systems" principle, the National Security Law for Hong Kong, and other legislation safeguarding national security and the city’s long-term stability and prosperity.

“The minor drop in the scores does not seem to fully reflect the institutional strengths of Hong Kong's rule of law," the government said. 

"For example, in respect of ‘Criminal Justice’, Hong Kong has a fair and comprehensive criminal justice system as well as a criminal legislative framework that keeps up with the times, fully protecting the rights of the parties involved."

All in all, Hong Kong's overall score of 0.72 is the same as that of the countries ranked the 22nd and the 24th globally, the government said, adding that the SAR's scores in "most of the aspects have only been slightly adjusted".