New Zealand ranks 6th in the world for the rule of law, according to the World Justice Project's
Rule of Law Index 2014. The full report is
here, and our country profile is
here. Digging deeper, we rank 2nd in the world for open government (because our laws are accessible and stable, and you can get official information on request), but the area which really drags us down is criminal justice. And that's not a problem of sentencing or any of the PR crap the "hang 'em high" brigade harp on about, but because our police are perceived as racist muppets who cannot investigate cases properly. Given their recent high-profile failures, the police really have no-one to blame but themselves there.