Published: November 24, 2025
The civil courts are largely inaccessible for the majority of U.S. citizens. The United States received very poor rankings in the degree to which “people can access and afford civil justice” in an annual report by the World Justice Project. In regional and income level groupings the United States placed dead last. Overall, the nation placed below average 112 out of 143 total countries.
The report places 30 other countries in the same region as the United States, including Canada and some European nations. The United States is also considered part of a high-income group of 51 countries, which also includes Russia, Japan, Hungary, Panama, Chile and Kuwait.
The level of access to and affordability of civil courts is used to determine an overall civil justice ranking. Civil justice is a factor in the overall Rule of Law Index Score. The United States’ overall civil justice score isn’t as low, ranking towards the bottom by region and income level, but a bit above average compared to all countries surveyed. Its overall Rule of Law Index rankings are similarly underwhelming.
Any person charged with a crime in the United States is entitled to a lawyer – a right that was not fully realized until a 1972 Supreme Court case. The idea behind this is that you are at a severe disadvantage appearing in court without representation, and that this creates a problematic power imbalance when faced with the threat of incarceration. Aside from in some limited instances, the court does not have a duty to appoint a lawyer for civil court cases. While the threat of jail time is reserved for criminal courts, evictions, debt collections, child custody cases, immigration hearings, labor violations, class-action lawsuits, personal injury claims, wrongful death suits, and divorce settlements are all handled in civil courts. Legal experts have argued that civil cases as well as criminal cases can have life altering consequences. The cost of representation is especially high in the United States. As prices continue to rise, the prospect of paying for legal representation becomes even less attainable for many citizens.
The World Justice Project has studied how well countries adhere to the rule of law through its annually released Rule of Law Index since 2015. Each of the 142 countries studied receives a score from 0 to 1 for each metric. The closer a score is to 1, the better the country performs in that regard. Scandinavian countries, along with Finland, consistently top the list, while countries such as Venezuela, Cambodia and Haiti consistently rank at the bottom.
The rule of law index is based on seven main factors: constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice and criminal justice. Each of these is based on a set of sub-factors. The degree to which people can access and afford civil justice is one of the metrics that determines the civil justice score. Most data comes from surveys of citizens and legal experts, supplemented by objective data.
The World Justice Project reports that the rule of law is declining globally, with most of the world’s population living in countries where it is deteriorating. The organization takes an optimistic view, noting that progress is possible and that every region includes at least one country that improved its score in the past year.
The United States has seen a decline across all seven metrics of the index since data collection began in 2015. The United States consistently ranks poorly on metrics related to fundamental rights, discrimination, impartial criminal proceedings, and discrimination in civil courts, as well as affordability and accessibility. Compared with the 31 other countries in its region, the United States typically ranks average or below average on most metrics, performing particularly poorly on those related to access to civil courts, fundamental rights, discrimination, and equal justice.
The index highlights some of the real issues faced by everyday citizens. Low-income Americans consistently struggle to access the civil court system. Experts say this could pose a serious threat to democracy. Lack of access to civil justice is linked to the erosion of consumer, labor, and tenant rights. While civil courts are technically open to all, low-income individuals often cannot afford representation, making it difficult to challenge wealthier parties who have consistent access to legal services. A growing number of legal experts argue that everyone should have access to legal services in all civil court proceedings, especially those involving basic human needs such as housing, child custody, and safety.
Readers interested in exploring this issue further can look for my article in the next issue. I will work with a retired Maine labor attorney to examine civil justice access in greater detail, including what civil courts are like for the poor, the challenges posed by lack of representation, the history of efforts to improve access and affordability in Maine, why access to legal counsel is important, and the potential threats these issues pose to democracy.
