Goa has been ranked the worst-performing state in the India Justice Report (IJR) 2025, which assesses justice delivery across four key pillars: police, prisons, judiciary, and legal aid. Scoring a composite 3.51 out of 10, the state placed last among both the seven small states (with populations under 1 crore) and the entire country.
Goa underperformed across all pillars, with scores of 3.89 for police, 2.62 for prisons, 3.03 for judiciary, and 4.41 for legal aid. Its police ranking dropped from 6th to 7th among small states since the 2022 report, while it remained at 7th for both prisons and judiciary. The only relatively stronger performance was in legal aid, where it ranked 2nd.
Despite the poor overall performance, the report did note progress on 29 out of 68 indicators, including eight related to police and several in other sectors. However, serious gaps persist. Women remain underrepresented: only 10.8% of the police force and 1.2% of prison staff are women. The judiciary is critically understaffed, with just 27 judges for a population of around 15 million, well below the recommended standard of 50 judges per million.
Another area of concern is the number of undertrial prisoners: one in three have been detained for one to three years, placing Goa alongside Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh in facing prolonged legal delays.
While some improvements are noted, the IJR 2025 makes it clear: Goa’s justice system is in need of urgent, wide-ranging reforms to ensure fairness, efficiency, and equal access for all.