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Public law SS

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8 views3 pages

Public law SS

Uploaded by

rafialvi14
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Public law

Rule of law

Definition

Why it is needed

Theories by A.V. Dicey

Joseph Raj

Lord Bingham

Compare and contrast

And the contemporary relevance of Dicey’s theory

**We are governed by the government and ruled by the law. It means the government must govern
according to the law of the country.

*At the heart of the concept of the rule of law is the idea that society is governed by law.

(Lord Reed, R (on the application of UNISON) v Lord Chancellor [2017] UKSC 51, para.68)

*[T]he rule of law enforced by the courts is the ultimate controlling factor on which our

constitution is based (Lord Hope in Jackson).

Law is there to facilitate our life.

The concept of the rule of law is oner of the fundamental pillars of the UK’s constitution as Lord Reed
said that, the heart of the concept of the rule of law is the idea that society is governed by law. It means
that to be govern by law is the key component for ensuring rule of law. Then the question is how the rule
of law can be delivered or ensured? Lord Hope stated that *[T]he rule of law is enforced by the courts is
the ultimate controlling factor on which our constitution is based. It must be also examined whether the
law which governs the society is for the facilitation and greater hood for people. In Draconian legal
system can not ensure or uphold the ROL even though it may mean following the Lords to its latter’s.

Rule of law is needed to safeguard peoples rights and liberty and freedom. It becomes lawless if there is
no ROL.

A.V. Dicey Joseph Raj Lord Bingham


(i) Supremacy of Law, 1. All laws should be Sub-rule 1: The law must be
prospective, open, and accessible so far as possible,
(ii) Equality before Law, and clear intelligible, clear and
2. Laws should be predictable.
(iii) Predominance of Legal relatively stable Sub-rule 2: Questions of legal
Spirit. 3. The making of particular right and liability should
laws (particular legal generally be decided by
orders) should be application of the law and not
guided by open, stable, the exercise of the discretion.
clear, and general rules Sub-rule 3: The law must apply
4. The independence of equally to everyone, unless
the judiciary must be differences can be justified.
guaranteed Sub-rule 4: The law must
5. The principles of natural provide appropriate protection
justice must be of essential and basic human
observed rights.
6. The courts should have Sub-rule 5: The parties in civil
review powers over the disputes must be able to resolve
implementation of the disputes without facing a huge
other principles legal cost or excessive delays.
7. The courts should be Sub-rule 6: The executive must
easily accessible use the powers given to them
8. The discretion of the reasonably, in good faith, for the
crime-preventing proper purpose and must not
agencies should not be exceed the limit s of these
allowed to pervert the powers.
law Sub-rule 7: There must be
adjudicative procedural fairness.
Sub-rule 8: The state must
comply with the obligations of
international law which whether
deriving from treaty or
international custom and
practice governs the conduct of
nations.

The idea of rule of has developed a lot after Diceys. Discuss

Compare and contrast different theories of ROL. Discuss

Discuss the contemporary relevance of Diceys theory

There is no ROL without SOP. Discuss.

There are 3 conceptions of the rule of law which had been highlighted by Dicey.

The first aspect indicates that no man is punishable or can be lawfully made to suffer in body or deprived
of their goods unless they had violated the law which has been established in an ordinary way and
applied by an ordinary court. There is also an absolute supremacy or predominance of regular law over
arbitrary power and the state could not act in an arbitrary manner which was unlawful.
The second aspect of Dicey’s conception of the rule of law indicates that in terms of the equality before
the law, no man is above the law. Regardless of what an individual’s rank or condition is, he is subjected
to the ordinary law of the realm and be bounded to the jurisdiction of the ordinary tribunals. As a result,
no matter an ordinary private citizen or a state official breached the same law, they would be treated in
the same way. It denoted that the state officials were not given any special privileges or protections
from the law of the land. Thomas Fuller had also quoted that “Be you ever so high, the law is above you.”

The third aspect denotes that the principles of the constitution are the result of the ordinary law of the
land. Dicey stated that Britain had a court-based constitution (in effect, a common law constitution), in
the sense that decisions made by the judges directly resulted the principles of the constitution which
concerning the rights of private persons. This reveals Dicey’s belief that the common law affords greater
protection to the citizens than a written constitution.

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