The Meaning and Constitutional Significance of the Rule of Law

To consider each principles power and their own basis within the British constitution, the rule of law needs to be defined too, but this is somewhat harder to do as it has no set definition. Different theories have attempted to define it though, and most agree with the Diceyan definition.It states that the rule of law contains three core elements - one, the law is absolutely supreme, two, everyone is equal before the law, and three, the Constitution may be found in the ordinary laws of the state.

The United States prides itself on the fact that we have the rule of Law. In other countries such as Japan, the people are expected to obey the government and corporations. If we did not have lawyers, bureaucrats would administer the law. Some complain that we have too many lawsuits, but very few would accept having to obey only the government and the bureaucrats.

The rule of law is whereby the government and all those who govern are bound by the law and everyone must follow the law. Rule of law is also known as nomocracy. Government individual officials are not entitled to make any decision which is not in accordance to the law (Paulsen, Calabresi, McConnell & Bray, 2013). All the citizens are governed by the law including those who make the laws. A. V. Dicey has highly advocated for rule of law in modern times and has popularized it. In history the idea of rule of law can be traced back to the ancient civilizations like China, Mesopotamia, and Rome among others.

The rule of law is treating all persons equally under the law in a society that is not run by any arbitrary power. Everyone is subject to the rules of law, including those in government and court positions; it is consistent throughout society and essential to achieving justice. An example of the rule of law being successfully applied to achieve justice in the

The text book definition of rule of law is simply stated as the restriction of the arbitrary exercise of power by subordinating it to well-defined and established laws. This in laymen’s terms simply means that power is no-longer the ultimate decider,

Law is a system of rules that are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior. (Robertson, Crimes against humanity, 90).Laws can be made by a collective legislature or by a single legislator, resulting in statutes, by the executive through decrees and regulations, or by judges through binding precedent, normally in common jurisdictions.

law – the order or pattern of rules that society establishes to govern the conduct of individuals and the relationships among them.

The rule of law states that nobody is above the law and everyone must follow the law. The citizens as well as the government have to enforce or follow every law and the people feel safe knowing this because they know the government will not just do what it wants. This is the second most important limit behind constitution because laws need to be fair and taken into action in order for the country to have balance and order. When a country has a rule of law, everyone must follow the law even the president must follow these laws also. Therefore the law is even greater than

Brien’s (1999) statement associates the concept of the Rule of Law with democracy and liberty, thus evoking its egalitarian and anti-authoritarian properties. The Rule of Law is widely considered a key element to democracy, and has also been touted as a critical element in promoting human rights and “good law” in society (Licht, Goldschmidt & Schwartz, 2007). Brien (1999) refers to the Rule of Law as “ideal”, suggesting that the need for

Very vaguely, the rule of law is: “the name commonly given to the state of affairs in which a legal system is legally in good shape.”

The purpose of laws is to protect its citizens. Laws are written and approved by the three main bodies of government, and then are enforced by the police and with the help of the legal system

The rule of law is seen as being one of the most fundamental components of the UK constitution as well as being a principle that is concerned with restricting parliamentary action. Though the rule of law is seen to be a component in the constitution; the actual meaning of the rule of law has been very problematic to interpret. This is considerably down to the fact that it means different things to different people as since the nineteenth century, academics, politicians and judges have proposed diverse definitions and explanations in regards to the rule of law and the role it upholds in the UK constitution.

Rule of law in simplest terms means law rules, that is, law is supreme. The term “Rule of law‟ is derived from the French phrase “la principle de legalite” (the principle of legality) which means a government on principle of law and not of men. Rule of Law is a viable and dynamic concept and, like many other concepts, is not capable of any exact definition. It is used in contradistinction to rule of man. Sir Edward Coke, the Chief Justice in King James I‟s reign is said to be the originator of this principle. However, concrete shape was given to it by Professor A.V. Dicey, for the first time in his book “Law of the Constitution” (1885) in the form of three principles.

The rule of law is a difficult concept to grasp and proves elusive to substantive definition. However, the following work considers the attempts of various social and legal theorists to define the concept and pertinent authorities are considered. Attitudes and emphasis as to the exact shape, form and content of the rule of law differ quite widely depending on the socio-political perspective and views of respective commentators (Slapper and Kelly, 2009, p16), although there are common themes that are almost universally adopted. The conclusions to this work endeavour to consolidate thinking on the rule of law in order to address the question posed in the title, which is at first sight a deceptively simple one.

The rule of law represents a challenge to State authority and power, demanding both that power be granted legitimately and that their exercise is according to law. The law is not autonomous but rests on the support of those it governs. Whilst the rule of law places law above everyone, it remains paradoxically subjected to the ultimate judgment of the people. The rule of law is considered the most fundamental doctrines of the constitution of UK. The constitution is said to be founded on the idea of the rule of law.