Rule of Law

Rule of Law
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Vice President M Hamid Ansari on Thursday said that the burden of delivery of Rule of Law is on the judges.

Vice President M Hamid Ansari on Thursday said that the burden of delivery of Rule of Law is on the judges. He was addressing the Sesquicentennial Celebrations of the High Court of Judicature of Allahabad, in Lucknow. The concept of Rule of Law is that the state is governed, not by the ruler or the nominated representatives of the people but by the law…

The origins of the Rule of Law theory can be traced back to the Ancient Romans during the formation of the first republic; it has since been championed by several medieval thinkers in Europe such as Hobbs, Locke and Rousseau through the social contract theory. Indian philosophers such as Chanakya have also espoused the rule of law theory in their own way, by maintain that the King should be governed by the word of law.

The formal origin of the word is attributed to Sir. Edward Coke, and is derived from French phase ‘la principe de legalite’ which means the principle of legality, thus writes Lawctopus.com. One of our articles of faith as citizens of the Republic of India is the Rule of Law. Its classic enunciation is to be found in Albert Dicey, a famous British jurist and constitutional theorist.

To him, the essential ingredients of rule of law were: (a) the absolute supremacy of regular law (b) equality before the law (c) access to justice and development of law by the judges on a case by case basis. As the former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales Lord Bingham put it, ‘it makes the difference between Good and Bad Government.’ Rule of Law, said the Supreme Court in Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd v Union of India (1996) ‘is a potent instrument of social justice to bring about equality in result’.

In 2005, the International Bar Association deplored in a Resolution the ‘increasing erosion around the world of the Rule of Law and spelt out its ingredients: ‘An independent, impartial judiciary; the presumption of innocence; the right to a fair and public trial without undue delay; a rational and proportionate approach to punishment; a strong and independent legal profession; strict protection of confidential communications between lawyer and client; equality of all before the law; these are all fundamental principles of the Rule of Law.’

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