Rule of Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Rule of Law - Essay Example This, however, is by no means of recent vintage. In fact, the Rule of Law has a long, rich and colorful history. Joseph Raz, one of the foremost legal thinkers of his time and a firm proponent of the Rule of Law in his seminal work "The Rule of Law and its Virtue" in 1977, may trace the roots of his theory to generations upon generations of legal thinkers, all of whom have made unique contributions to the principle of the Rule of Law. Principles of justice and ethics and virtue underlie much of the discussion on the Rule of Law. Illustrative of the wide range of ideas covering these principles is Plato and Machiavelli, albeit of different times. Platonic philosophy is hinged on moral virtue as practiced by just rulers. Man served the State and hence, ethics and politics were the same. This is to be contradistinguished with Machiavellian principles, which states that the State should serve the people. That is its whole reason for being. Under Machiavelli's concept, a ruler is justified in doing whatever needs to be done to maintain the country, even if his actions may be deemed unjust. " This is a complete opposite of the Platonic model which argues that a ruler may never be unjust. It is immoral and unethical, maintains Plato, for a ruler to rule solely by might. On his part, the great thinker Cicero maintains that there was no distinction between that which was morally good and what was useful to man. To quote f rom Cicero, "Virtue is a habit of the mind, consistent with nature and moderation and reason." [Rhetorical Invention (bk. II, sc. LIII)] Much of this has been influenced by Platonic philosophy which is hinged on moral virtue as practiced by just rulers. As such, the concept of government and duty has underlain much of ancient law and has aided the people of the time in charting their destiny Indeed, the broadest theme in the current conception of the rule of law is that the government restricted by law. This is consistent with the idea of the Rule of Law propounded by A.V. Dicey in his book "Introduction to the Study of Law of the Constitution" (1885). Dicey posited the following propositions. Firstly, no man could be punished or lawfully interfered with by the authorities except for breaches of law. In other words, all government actions must be authorised by law. Secondly, no man is above the law and everyone, regardless of rank, is subject to the ordinary laws of the land. Thirdly, there is no need for a bill of rights because the general principle of the constitution is the result of judicial decisions determining the rights of the private person. Joseph Raz, on the other hand, espouses eight guiding principles for the rule of law. 1. All laws should be prospective, open and clear; 2. Laws should be relatively stable; 3. The making of particular laws must be guided by open, stable, clear and general rules; 4. The independence of the judiciary must be guaranteed; 5. The principles of natural justice must be observed; 6. The courts should have review powers; 7. The courts should be easily accessible; and 8. The discretion of crime prevention agencies should not be allowed to pervert the law. Indeed, there is much that should be lauded with Raz' principles of the law inasmuch as