Rule of Law

The rule of law is a legal maxim stating that no person is above the law, that no one can be punished by the state except for a breach of the law, and that no one can be convicted of breaching the law except in the manner set forth by the law itself. The rule of law stands in contrast to the idea that the leader is above the law, a feature of Roman law, Nazi law, and certain other legal systems.

Albert Dicey
British jurist A. V. Dicey popularised the phrase "rule of law" in 1885. Dicey emphasized three aspects of the rule of law
1. No one can be punished or made to suffer except for a breach of law proved in an ordinary court.
2. No one is above the law and everyone is equal before the law regardless of social, economic, or political status.
3. The rule of law includes the results of judicial decisions determining the rights of private persons.

The phrase has been used since the 17th century, but the concept is much older. For instance Aristotle, the philosopher of Ancient Greece, said "Law should govern".
One way to be free from the rule of law is by denying that an enactment has the necessary attributes of law. The rule of law has therefore been described as "an exceedingly elusive notion" giving rise to a "rampant divergence of understandings".
At least two principal conceptions of the rule of law can be identified: a formalist or "thin" and a substantive or "thick" definition of the rule of law. Formalist definitions of the rule of law do not make a judgment about the "justness" of law itself, but define specific procedural attributes that a legal framework must have in order to be in compliance with the rule of law. Substantive conceptions of the rule of law go beyond this and include certain substantive rights that are said to be based on, or derived from, the rule of law.
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History
Although credit for popularizing the expression "the rule of law" in modern times is usually given to A. V. Dicey,[6][7] development of the legal concept can be

Bibliography: 1. OSISA (Olivier, Louise), “Constitutional Review and Reform: And the Adherence to Democratic Principles in Constitutions in Southern African Countries”, 2007 2. Danwood Chirwa, “Human Rights under the Malawian Constitution”, JUTA, 2011 3. The report of the JUSTICE constitution committee, “A British Bill of Rights Informing the debate”, 2007 4. The South African 1996 Constitution 1. ^ Cole, John et al. The Library of Congress, page 113 (W. W. Norton & Company 1997). 5. ^ Craig, Paul P. (1997). "Formal and substantive conceptions of the rule of law: an analytical framework". Public Law: 467. 6. ^ a b c Wormuth, Francis. The Origins of Modern Constitutionalism, page 28 (1949). 7. ^ Bingham, Thomas. The Rule of Law, page 3 (Penguin 2010). 10. ^ Cooper, John et al. Complete Works By Plato, page 1402 (Hackett Publishing, 1997).