Topic 2 - The Rule of Law

Question 1

What is the main principle of the Rule of Law?

Answer 1

All people are subject to and accountable to law that is fairly applied and enforced

Question 2

Who popularised the Rule of Law?

Answer 2

British jurist A.V. Dicey

Question 3

What are the elements of the Rule of Law?

Answer 3

• there must be an absence of arbitrary power on the part of the state, meaning that the state’s power must be controlled by the law
  + actions of government ministers can be challenged by judicial review
• there must be equality before the law, meaning that no person is above the law
• the law must be supreme

Question 4

What are the primary issues of the Rule of Law?

Answer 4

• the doctrine of Parliamentary Supremacy, which allows Parliament to make any law it wishes
• social differences are disregarded and these disparities aren’t always accounted for

Question 5

What is substantive law?

Answer 5

the substance of law, such as crime, contract, human rights or tort

Question 6

What is non-substantive law?

Answer 6

the nature rather than the substance of law, such as law-making or the English legal system