The Rule of Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The Rule of Law - Essay Example There some theorists and researchers who have written about the rule of law lately. In this essay we deal mainly with two of such writers: Brian Z. Tamanaha and Rachel Kleinfeld Belton. We have chosen their papers as our source material because their points of view seem to be rigorous and comprehensive in the different facets of the rule of law that they talked about. Tamanaha does his best to be epistemic when dealing with the rule of law as a general principle that it is often misunderstood while Belton does her best to find a proper definition of what we mean by rule of law as she is completely aware of the generalised state of confusion about this term. Both writers shed light on this topic, and their insights are very useful in order to get an adequate understanding of the rule of law as a fundamental principle that should be taken into account with a sense of commitment and responsibility not only by government officials, politicians, lawmakers or law people, but by everyone in any society at any time. Nobody is exempt from the rule of law, so everybody has to worry about it. "The rule of law is fundamental to the western democratic order. ... in the case of Proclamations (1610) 77 ER 1352: 'The King himself ought not to be subject to man, but subject to God and the law, because the law makes him King'. (Cooray, 1995). This last assertion is quite bold and brings with it the idea of sovereignty. It can be misinterpreted like the concept of the free will of man. When we analyse carefully the Bible, as it is the Westerne standard as its sacred book, we will clearly see that there is not free will, but free agency. This means that man is not free to act as he pleases, but man is free to act according to the design of his own limited nature. So man is still responsible and accountable for his own deeds before God and man. The same happens with any sovereign who is supposed to act under the duty and the call of the law. Why Plainly because the law is the mechanism that makes him sovereign, that makes him king. Dr. Cooray keeps on analysing the rule of law with the following statements: "The rule of law in its modern sense owes a great deal to the late Professor AV Dicey. Professor Dicey's writings about the rule of law are of enduring significance. The essential characteristic of the rule of law are: i. The supremacy of law, which means that all persons (individuals and government) are subject to law. ii. A concept of justice which emphasises interpersonal adjudication, law based on standards and the importance of procedures. iii. Restrictions on the exercise of discretionary power. iv. The doctrine of judicial precedent. v. The common law methodology. vi. Legislation should be prospective and not retrospective. vii. An independent judiciary. viii. The exercise by Parliament of the legislative power and restrictions on exercise of legislative power by the executive. ix. An underlying moral