The rule of law is the most important political ideal today, yet there is much confusion about what it means and how it works. This 2004 book explores the history, politics, and theory surrounding ...the rule of law ideal, beginning with classical Greek and Roman ideas, elaborating on medieval contributions to the rule of law, and articulating the role played by the rule of law in liberal theory and liberal political systems. The author outlines the concerns of Western conservatives about the decline of the rule of law and suggests reasons why the radical Left have promoted this decline. Two basic theoretical streams of the rule of law are then presented, with an examination of the strengths and weaknesses of each. The book examines the rule of law on a global level, and concludes by answering the question of whether the rule of law is a universal human good.
Theatre of the Rule of Law presents a sustained critique of global rule of law promotion - an expansive industry at the heart of international development, post-conflict reconstruction and security ...policy today. While successful in articulating and disseminating an effective global public policy, rule of law promotion has largely failed in its stated objectives of raising countries out of poverty and taming violent conflict. Furthermore, in its execution, this work deviates sharply from 'the rule of law' as commonly conceived. To explain this, Stephen Humphreys draws on the history of the rule of law as a concept, examples of legal export during colonial times, and a spectrum of contemporary interventions by development agencies and international organisations. Rule of law promotion is shown to be a kind of theatre, the staging of a morality tale about the good life, intended for edification and emulation, but blind to its own internal contradictions.
Rule of Law in the EU Antonina Bakardjieva Engelbrekt, Andreas Moberg, Joakim Nergelius / Antonina Bakardjieva Engelbrekt, Andreas Moberg, Joakim Nergelius
2021, 2021-12-02, 2021-10-28
eBook, Book
Open access
This open access book looks into the evolution and current state of the rule of law in the European Union (EU). The thirtieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall is chosen as a natural moment ...of stocktaking; assessing the progress made since the beginning of the democratic reforms in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), but also critically analysing recent tendencies of rule of law backsliding and open revolt against liberal-democratic values in individual EU Member States. The volume is partly retrospective in that it reflects on the challenges of the post-communist transition and the process of Eastward Enlargement of the Union. Yet it is also prospective, in so far as it reviews the variety of novel mechanisms for strengthening rule of law enforcement in the EU and gauges their potential for bringing sustainable, positive change in this regard. All chapters are written by experienced scholars and practitioners in the field of EU law and policy. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Swedish Studies Network.
This book analyses the concept of the rule of law in the context of international law, through the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. It investigates how the court has defined and ...interpreted the notion of the rule of law in its jurisprudence. It places this analysis against a background of more theoretical accounts of the idea of the rule of law, drawing in ideas of political philosophy. It also provides a comparative assessment, demonstrating how the idea of the rule of law has evolved in the UK, France, and Germany. The book argues that at the core of the concept of the rule of law are the notions of legality and judicial safeguards. It states that the Court has developed the requirements of legality, which the work analyses in detail, based on that concept. It assesses the independence of the judiciary as an aspect of the rule of law in the context of the European Convention on Human Rights, and the relationship between the rule of law and the substantive contents of law. The book posits that the rule of law as seen at the Court is not mainly utilised with regard to ‘freedom’ rights, but is more concerned with procedural rights. It discusses the relationship between the rule of law and the view of the Convention as a constitutional instrument of the European public order, and shows that the rule of law and democracy are inextricably linked in the case law of the Court. Ultimately, the book demonstrates in its analysis of the Court’s jurisprudence that the notion of the rule of law is a crucial part of the international legal order.
Scholars have generally assumed that authoritarianism and rule of law are mutually incompatible. Convinced that free markets and rule of law must tip authoritarian societies in a liberal direction, ...nearly all studies of law and contemporary politics have neglected that improbable coupling: authoritarian rule of law. Through a focus on Singapore, this book presents an analysis of authoritarian legalism. It shows how prosperity, public discourse, and a rigorous observance of legal procedure have enabled a reconfigured rule of law such that liberal form encases illiberal content. Institutions and process at the bedrock of rule of law and liberal democracy become tools to constrain dissent while augmenting discretionary political power - even as the national and international legitimacy of the state is secured. This book offers a valuable and original contribution to understanding the complexities of law, language and legitimacy in our time.
Under what conditions would authoritarian rulers be interested in the rule of law? What type of rule of law exists in authoritarian regimes? How do authoritarian rulers promote the rule of law ...without threatening their grip on power? Tying the Autocrat's Hands answers these questions by examining legal reforms in China. Yuhua Wang develops a demand-side theory arguing that authoritarian rulers will respect the rule of law when they need the cooperation of organized interest groups that control valuable and mobile assets but are not politically connected. He also defines the rule of law that exists in authoritarian regimes as a partial form of the rule of law, in which judicial fairness is respected in the commercial realm but not in the political realm. Tying the Autocrat's Hands demonstrates that the rule of law is better enforced in regions with a large number of foreign investors but less so in regions heavily invested in by Chinese investors.
After the Cold War, how did China become a global symbol of disregard for human rights, while the U.S. positioned itself as the chief exporter of the rule of law? Teemu Ruskola investigates globally ...circulating narratives about what law is and who has it, and shows how "legal Orientalism" developed into a distinctly American ideology of empire.
The rule of law is a political ideal today endorsed and promoted worldwide. Or is it? In a significant contribution to the field, Nick Cheesman argues that Myanmar is a country in which the rule of ...law is 'lexically present but semantically absent'. Charting ideas and practices from British colonial rule through military dictatorship to the present day, Cheesman calls upon political and legal theory to explain how and why institutions animated by a concern for law and order oppose the rule of law. Empirically grounded in both Burmese and English sources, including criminal trial records and wide ranging official documents, Opposing the Rule of Law offers the first significant study of courts in contemporary Myanmar. It sheds new light on the politics of courts during dark times and sharply illuminates the tension between the demand for law and the imperatives of order.
This volume brings together essays on Athenian law by Edward M. Harris, who challenges much of the recent scholarship on this topic. Presenting a balanced analysis of the legal system in ancient ...Athens, Harris stresses the importance of substantive issues and their contribution to our understanding of different types of legal procedures. He combines careful philological analysis with close attention to the political and social contexts of individual statutes. Collectively, the essays in this volume demonstrate the relationship between law and politics, the nature of the economy, the position of women, and the role of the legal system in Athenian society. They also show that the Athenians were more sophisticated in their approach to legal issues than has been assumed in the modern scholarship on this topic.
