Admin assignment - okay - DICEY’S FORMULATION OF RULE OF LAW: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS WITH . REFERENCE

DICEY’S FORMULATION OF RULE OF LAW: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS WITH

REFERENCE TO THAKUR BHARAT SINGH V. STATE OF M. P .

INTRODUCTION

The Rule of Law concept means, that the state is governed by the law and not by the ruler or the

representatives of the people. A country that preserves the Rule of Law would be in the

Grundnorm1 of that nation, or the essential and core law from which all other laws derive its

authority and becomes the supreme authority of that region. If a representative is governed by the

laws arising from the Grundnorm then his powers would be limited by law. The law is king but the

king is not the law2. No individual, whether rich or poor or even a ruler is above the law. Rule of

Law is supreme and no individual is above the law and should thus obey it. Rule of law is a

necessity in order to have a disciplined and organized community. The laws adopted through an

established procedure implied that the government authorities would be exercised only under those

written laws. The rule of law principle protects the individuals from the arbitrary actions of the

government’s authorities .

It is said that the one who originated the concept of Rule of Law was Edward Coke. According to

him, the king must be working under the God and law and corrected the supremacy of the law and

said that the Law is supreme over the executive.

‘La principe de Legalite’ is a French phase from which the concept of Rule of Law was derived. It

means the principle of legality. The theory of Rule of Law has been traced back to the Ancient

Romans and this concept has been supported by many medieval philosophers in Europe like Locke,

Hobbs and Rousseau.

In India also, Rule of Law can be traced back to the Upanishads. It states that the law is the king of

the kings. No one is higher than the law. Not even the king. Rule of law is much higher as well as

powerful than the kings. Many Indian philosophers have supported this Rule of Law concept have

interpreted it in their own way. The Indian philosopher Chanakya was of the opinion that the King

must be governed by the law.

But the entire credit for the development of the concept of Rule of Law goes to Professor A.V.Dicey

who in his book, “Introduction to the study of law of the Constitution” which was published in the

year 1885. He tried developing the Rule of Law concept. Administrative law is mainly based on this

concept. Thus the concept of Rule of Law is one of the most important aspects of modern legal

systems and it purely says that ‘howsoever high you maybe, the law is above you’. No human being

is above or higher than the supremacy of law .

CONCEPT OF RULE OF LAW

The concept of Rule of law is of old origin and is an ancient ideal. It was discussed by ancient

Admin assignment - okay