Rule according to higher law

Not to be confused with rule of law.
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The rule according to a higher law is a statement which expresses that no law may be enforced by the government unless it conforms with certain universal principles (written or unwritten) of fairness, morality, and justice.[1] Thus, the rule according to a higher law may serve as a practical legal criterion to qualify the instances of political or economical decision-making, when a government, even though acting in conformity with clearly defined and properly enacted law, still produces results which many observers find unfair or unjust.[2]

  1. ^ Lehman, Jeffrey and Phelps, Shirelle, ed. (2004). West's Encyclopedia of American Law, 2nd ed. Thomson Gale. ISBN 0-7876-6367-0.
  2. ^ Sellers, M. N. S. (2004). Republican Legal Theory: The History, Constitution and Purposes of Law in a Free State. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.