Cambodia Investment Review
Cambodia ranked 140th out of 143 countries and jurisdictions in the World Justice Project’s 2026 Rule of Law Index, with weak civil and criminal justice scores highlighting challenges relevant to businesses assessing legal certainty and dispute resolution.
The index, released on October 21, placed Cambodia fourth from the bottom globally, ahead of Haiti, Afghanistan and Venezuela. Its overall score remained at 0.31 out of one, despite moving up one position from the previous year.
For businesses and investors, the results draw attention to the institutions they may rely on when resolving commercial disputes, protecting assets and navigating regulatory requirements. However, the index measures experiences and perceptions of the rule of law; it does not directly measure investment performance.
Justice Scores Highlight Legal Uncertainty
Cambodia’s civil justice and criminal justice factors each scored 0.26. Order and security was its strongest category, at 0.64, although the country still ranked 103rd globally on that measure.
Read More: Opinion – Good Governance Key to a Developed Cambodia
Civil justice is particularly relevant to commercial activity because it examines how people access and use mechanisms for resolving disputes. Weaknesses in this area can raise questions for companies about the accessibility, timeliness and predictability of legal remedies.
The contrast between Cambodia’s security and justice scores also shows why public order alone provides an incomplete picture of the legal environment facing investors.
The index assesses eight factors, including constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, regulatory enforcement and the functioning of justice systems.
Higher Ranking, Unchanged Score
Cambodia’s improvement from 141st in 2025 to 140th in 2026 was not accompanied by an increase in its published overall score.
Its score has remained at 0.31 in every edition since 2022, compared with 0.35 in 2015.
Rankings can shift even when published scores remain unchanged because the project rounds scores to two decimal places. Cambodia, Haiti and Afghanistan each recorded 0.31 in the latest table, while Nicaragua scored 0.32.
The one-place gain should therefore be distinguished from an improvement in the published score.
Regional Gap Remains Wide
Cambodia ranked last among the 15 East Asia and Pacific countries covered by the index.
Singapore scored 0.79, while Thailand and Vietnam each recorded 0.50. The Philippines scored 0.46 and Myanmar 0.33.
Cambodia’s Ministry of Justice has previously challenged the index’s assessment. Responding to the 2021 edition, ministry spokesman Chin Malin said it had failed to account adequately for Cambodia’s circumstances during the Covid-19 pandemic. That response concerned the earlier report.
The Washington-based World Justice Project bases its index on household, legal practitioner and expert surveys. Its findings provide a comparative indicator of institutional conditions, rather than a court judgment or a definitive assessment of any individual business dispute.
