rule of law

Question 1

what is dicey’s conception of the rule of law?

Answer 1

three meanings

1. no one can be punished except for a ‘distinct breach of the law established in the ordinary legal manner before the ordinary Courts of the land’ - highlights tradition of strict legality
2. principle of equality before the law - disputes to be adjudicated in accordance with a common set of rules applied to both ministers and the people alike
3. constitution itself comes from the ordinary law of the land - civil liberty is achieved not by the formal declaration of rights, but as a result of constant struggle and vigilance leading to outcomes recorded and protected in particular judicial decisions

partnership between Parliament and judiciary crucial to his conception of the rule of law –> separation of powers

Question 2

Entick v Carrington (1765)

Answer 2

significance: demonstrated the extent of the judiciary’s role in applying the law and limiting the powers of the executive

judges rejected the argument that a Minister’s warrant was sufficient to authorise the search of premises and the seizure of papers alleged to contain evidence of seditious intent, and that official status was sufficient of itself to confer lawful authority - “if it is law, it will be found in our books. if it is not found there, it is not law”

Question 3

Duport Steels v Sirs (1980)

Answer 3

separation of powers

Diplock: “it cannot be too strongly emphasised that the British constitution, though largely unwritten, is firmly based on the separation of powers: Parliament makes the laws, the judiciary interprets them”