Is the Rule of Law Slipping in Taiwan? Assessing Judicial Independence Through International Indices—and Making the Case for Taiwan’s Inclusion in the WJP Index

In September 2026, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) released its *Global State of Democracy 2026* report, which downgraded Taiwan’s performance on judicial independence from “high” to “mid-range.” The change prompted competing interpretations across the political spectrum. Some attributed it to political interference in the judiciary; others pointed to the obstruction of the Constitutional Court’s work.

## Assessing Judicial Independence Requires More Diverse and Detailed Evidence

IDEA’s assessment offers an important warning. Interpreting annual changes, however, requires attention to expert judgements, changes in the composition of the expert panel and statistical uncertainty.

Consider the data on Taiwan’s “lower court independence” from the Sweden-based Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem), which IDEA uses in its assessment. Five experts rated the indicator in both 2024 and 2025, but the panel’s composition changed:

• Of the four experts who provided ratings in both years, three left their assessments unchanged and one lowered theirs.
• One previous expert no longer rated this question, while a newly participating expert assigned a lower score.
• Freedom of opinion and expression: 64%
• Freedom of assembly and association: 67%
• Civic participation: 65%
• [WJP Rule of Law Index 2026: Global Press Release](worldjusticeproject.org/news/wjp-rule-law-index-2026-global-press-release)
• [WJP Rule of Law Index: Full Rankings and Data](worldjusticeproject.org/rule-of-law-index/)
• [JRF’s Announcement of Its 2024 World Justice Challenge Award](jrf.org.tw/articles/2765)