Rule of law

"Rule of Law" redirects here. For other uses, see Rule of Law (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Rule according to higher law.
A mosaic representing both the judicial and legislative aspects of law. The woman on the throne holds a sword to chastise the guilty and a palm branch to reward the meritorious. Glory surrounds her head and the aegis of Minerva signifies the armor of righteousness and wisdom.[1]
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The rule of law is a political ideal that all people and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders.[2][3] It is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law".[4] The term rule of law is closely related to constitutionalism as well as Rechtsstaat. It refers to a political situation, not to any specific legal rule.[5][6][7] The rule of law is defined in the Encyclopædia Britannica as "the mechanism, process, institution, practice, or norm that supports the equality of all citizens before the law, secures a nonarbitrary form of government, and more generally prevents the arbitrary use of power."[8]

Use of the phrase can be traced to 16th-century Britain. In the following century, Scottish theologian Samuel Rutherford employed it in arguing against the divine right of kings.[9] John Locke wrote that freedom in society means being subject only to laws written by a legislature that apply to everyone, with a person being otherwise free from both governmental and private restrictions on his liberty. "The rule of law" was further popularized in the 19th century by British jurist A. V. Dicey. However, the principle, if not the phrase itself, was recognized by ancient thinkers. Aristotle wrote: "It is more proper that law should govern than any one of the citizens: upon the same principle, if it is advantageous to place the supreme power in some particular persons, they should be appointed to be only guardians, and the servants of the laws."[10]

The rule of law implies that every person is subject to the law, including persons who are lawmakers, law enforcement officials, and judges.[11] Distinct is the rule of man, where one person or group of persons rule arbitrarily.[12]

  1. ^ Cole, John et al. (1997). The Library of Congress, W. W. Norton & Company. p. 113
  2. ^ Sempill, Julian (2020). "The Rule of Law and the Rule of Men: History, Legacy, Obscurity". Hague Journal on the Rule of Law. 12 (3): 511–540. doi:10.1007/s40803-020-00149-9. S2CID 256425870.
  3. ^ "Rule of Law". National Geographic Society. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Why do we say No man is above the law?".
  5. ^ Ten, C. l (2017), "Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law", A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, pp. 493–502, doi:10.1002/9781405177245.ch22, ISBN 978-1405177245
  6. ^ Reynolds, Noel B. (1986). "Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law". All Faculty Publications (BYU ScholarsArchive). Archived from the original on 2019-11-07. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  7. ^ "Constitutionalism, Rule of Law, PS201H-2B3". www.proconservative.net. Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  8. ^ "rule of law | Definition, Implications, Significance, & Facts | Britannica". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rex was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference ari was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Hobson, Charles. The Great Chief Justice: John Marshall and the Rule of Law, p. 57 (University Press of Kansas, 1996): according to John Marshall, "the framers of the Constitution contemplated that instrument as a rule for the government of courts, as well as of the legislature."
  12. ^ Paul. "Resisting the Rule of Men." . Louis ULJ 62 (2017): 333. "I will say that we have "the rule of men" or "personal rule" when those who wield the power of the state are not obliged to give reasons to those over whom that power is being wielded—from the standpoint of the ruled, the rulers may simply act on their brute desires."