The International Development Law Organization (IDLO) is an intergovernmental organization focused on the promotion of the rule of law and development. It strives to empower individuals and communities to claim their rights and provides governments with the know-how to make them a reality. [82] It helps emerging and middle-income countries strengthen their legal capacity and rule of law framework for sustainable development and economic opportunity. [83] It is the only intergovernmental organization with an exclusive rule of law mandate and has worked in more than 170 countries around the world. [84] Which of the following best illustrates how the U.S. judicial system ensures the proper application of the rule of law? The rule of law in the American model is a safeguard against authoritarianism. Traditionally, an authoritarian government denies the freedom of citizens and rests power on a single ruler or a small group of members of the ruling elite. Leaders sometimes resort to authoritarian rule when they fear losing power or governmental authority. It can also be used in corrupt government affairs or to reward supporters. Scholars continue to debate whether the U.S. Constitution has adopted a particular interpretation of the “rule of law” and, if so, which one. For example, John Harrison argues that the word “law” in the Constitution is simply defined as what is legally binding, rather than “defined by formal or substantive criteria,” and that judges therefore have no discretion to decide that laws do not meet these unwritten and vague criteria. [54] Law professor Frederick Mark Gedicks disagrees, writing that Cicero, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and the framers of the United States Constitution believed that an unjust law was not a law at all.
[55] The “formal” interpretation is more common than the “substantive” interpretation. Formalists believe that the law must be forward-looking, well-known, and have characteristics of generality, equality, and security. In addition, the formal notice does not contain any requirements as to the content of the law. [36] This formal approach allows for the adoption of laws that protect democracy and individual rights, but recognizes the existence of the “rule of law” in countries that do not necessarily have such laws to protect democracy or individual rights. The best-known arguments in favor of formal interpretation have been advanced by A.V. Dicey, F.A.Hayek, Joseph Raz and Joseph Unger. In Islamic jurisprudence, the rule of law in the seventh century was formulated in such a way that no official could claim to be above the law, not even the caliph. [19] The rule of law can be observed at all levels of the U.S. government and in the daily life of civil society. To implement this model, a government must create fair laws that are universally enforced and followed by all citizens. including leadership.
All representatives of the U.S. government, including the president, Supreme Court justices, state justices and legislators, and all members of Congress, are primarily committed to upholding the Constitution. These oaths affirm that the rule of law is superior to the rule of any human ruler. [52] At the same time, the federal government has considerable discretion: Parliament is free to decide which laws it drafts, provided that they remain within its enumerated powers and respect the constitutionally protected rights of the individual. Similarly, the judiciary has some discretion,[53] and the executive also has various discretionary powers, including prosecutorial discretion. The rule of law is particularly important as an influence on the economic development of developing countries and countries with economies in transition. So far, the term “rule of law” is mainly used in English-speaking countries and has not yet been fully clarified, even with regard to established democracies such as Sweden, Denmark, France, Germany or Japan. A common language between lawyers in common law and civil law countries, as well as between the legal communities in developed and developing countries, is essential to explore the links between the rule of law and the real economy. [89] In general, the rule of law implies that the creation of laws, their application, and the relationships between legal norms themselves are regulated by law, so that no one – not even the highest official – is above the law.
The legal limitation of rulers means that the government is subject to existing laws just as much as its citizens. A closely related term, therefore, is the idea of equality before the law, which states that no “moral” person can enjoy privileges that are not extended to all, and that no one can be immune from legal sanctions. In addition, the application and determination of legislation by various officials must be impartial and consistent in equivalent cases, regardless of the grade, status or relative authority of the parties to the dispute. For these ideas to be truly bought, there should also be a legal apparatus that obliges civil servants to submit to the law. Kevin Lindgren, a former judge of the Federal Court of Australia, was appointed Associate Professor of Rule of Law at the University of Sydney in 2012. He has lectured extensively on the concept of the rule of law and is the author of an article entitled “The Rule of Law: Its State of Health in Australia”. The Institute has also produced a short series of lectures on our YouTube channel to capture key aspects of Professor Lindgren`s lectures, such as: Various organizations are committed to promoting the rule of law. This video introduces the concept of the rule of law and shows some examples of how this concept promotes fairness and security in the legal system.
The rule of law implies that everyone is subject to the law, including legislators, law enforcement officers and judges. [8] In this sense, it opposes tyranny or oligarchy, where rulers are above the law. Some modern scholars argue that the rule of law has been corroded over the past century by the instrumental conception of law promoted by right-wing realists such as Oliver Wendell Holmes and Roscoe Pound. For example, Brian Tamanaha states: “The rule of law is an age-old ideal, but the idea that law is a means to an end only became consolidated in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. [56] Various and innumerable ways of defining the rule of law are well known in the United States and may depend on the purpose of an organization, even in areas of security risk:[60] The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote extensively about the benefits of a well-written _______that that could survive the reign of a good ruler. The rule of law means that every citizen is subject to the law. This is contrary to the idea that the sovereign is above the law, for example by divine right. The Council of the International Bar Association adopted a resolution in 2009 advocating a substantive or “dense” definition of the rule of law[79]: “The preamble to the rule of law states: “Governments of like-minded European countries that have a common heritage of political traditions, ideals, freedom and the rule of law.”