The Rule Of Law And Its Effect On Society

The Australian Constitution is a rich amalgam of various classical political principles. The concepts of the Rule of Law and the doctrine of the Separation of Powers evident in Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws are both salient examples of political theses that are central to Australian Constitutional Law. The structure of the Constitution itself and decisions of the High Court of Australia unequivocally validate the entrenchment of the doctrine separation of powers in the Commonwealth Constitution . In particular, the High Court has applied this with relative rigour with respect to the separation of judicial power. The separation of the judicial power is fundamentally critical to upholding the rule of law. The High Court in Wilson v Minister for Aboriginal Affairs noted that “the separation of the judicial function…advances two constitutional objectives: the guarantee of liberty and, to that end, the independence of Chapter III judges” . Kitto J in R v Davidson also identified that the judiciary should be subject to no other authority but the law itself . This is a critical aspect ensuring the concept of legal equality is upheld. Therefore, its role clearly extends to providing checks and balances on the exercise of power by the legislative and executive arms of government . This ensures the liberty of the law and limits the abuse of the judicial system. Judicial Power is defined as “the power which every sovereign must of necessity have to decide between its subjects

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 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,

The difference between the division and separation of powers is small. The Division of power is one of the most important aspects of the Constitution. This role is dividing power between the state and Commonwealth parliaments. This division is separated into three powers, Residual, Concurrent, and Exclusive. Residual powers are those powers that the states have in areas such as, health, transport and policing, concurrent powers are those shared between the commonwealth government and state governments. Areas such as Medicare funding .The Exclusive powers are those powers granted only to the Commonwealth of Australia parliament. . Example in the Commonwealth of Australia Vs. The state of Tasmania (1983) the commonwealth blocked the state from constructing a hydroelectric dam in the world heritage listed Gordon river. The state claimed it was unconstitutional for the commonwealth to block the dam because power generation was an area of state responsibility. The commonwealth then argued that it did have power to block construction because Australia was signatory to the convention for the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage (1972) it argued that because this international agreement stipulated

The notion behind every law made is the rule of law, which was put forward by an English Jurist A.V. Dicey in 1885 and refers to the idea that the legal system seeks to treat

We can’t write off the rule of law as irrelevant rhetoric: it has been recognised as an important constitutional principle in an Act of Parliament: Constitutional Reform Act 2005- 1. The rule of Law; This act does not adversely affect- (a) the existing constitutional principle of the rule of law, and is routinely cited as a constitutional principle by the courts.

Law can be defined as the written agreement that a society agrees upon this dictates appropriate and acceptable conduct and behaviour we display toward each other. Law is the foundation of the society it can only work if the society abides by it and work to maintain its existence, this will help solve any problems and crimes.

meaning of the rule of law is a state of order in which events conform

‘It is well-known that the Separation of Powers doctrine is sine qua non for maintaining the rule of law however, an absolute separation of power does not exist in the Australian 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”, said Dicey in 1885, means “the absolute supremacy or predominance of regular law as opposed to the influence of arbitrary power and excludes the existence of arbitrariness, of prerogative ,or even wide discretionary authority on the part of government.” (THE LAW OF CONSTITUTION 198 (8th ed.)

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.

According to Reference.com (2007), law is defined as: “rules of conduct of any organized society, however simple or small, that are enforced by threat of punishment if they are violated. Modern law has a wide sweep and regulates many branches of conduct.” Essentially law is the rules and regulations that aid in governing conduct,

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.

And so it helps the Government in formulating suitable laws. In pursue its economic and social policies for e.g. law and legal propositions are not find or absolute. They are in the state of becoming. Accepted norms or principles whether statutory or as principle of justice, equity and good conscience are applied again and again to test its voracity or