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Summary - Public Law (M100)
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918624Part- A: ‘The Rule of Law’ means literally what it says: the rule of law. Taken in its
broadest sense this means that people should obey the law and be ruled by it.
In this essay, it will mention about what the rule of law is and what the formal and
substantive theories are about, why they are needed for the rule of law and how well
they work within the rule of law, it will also mention about A.V Dicey and what his 3
conceptions are about and why they are need as well within the rule of law. In part B
of this essay it will talk about judicial review and what it means in a sense of why it is
different from an appeal, why it is actually needed and what is the constitutional
basis of it. It will also mention why judicial review is different from other mechanisms
of administrative law, who is able to bring a claim forward and what remedies are
available.
The Rule of Law is 1a fundamental doctrine by which every individual must obey and
submit to the law, and not arbitrary action by other people of groups. In essence, no
one is above the law. The Rule of Law is technically not a legal rule but it is more of
a political and moral rule. But the court always uses it as reference when dealing
with Public Law cases and it does impact them when they are making their
decisions. There is some history with the Rule of Law. 2It has its origins in ancient
Greece and, more specifically, in the philosophy of Aristotle, he raised the question
of whether it is better to be ruled by the best leader or the best laws, he answered
that it was preferable that law should rule rather than any single one of the citizens.
More history of it is the Bill of Rights 1689, no monarchs could again rely on divine
authority to override the law. The power to suspend laws without Parliament’s
consent was illegal. There is also the Act of Settlement 1701, it laid the foundations
of an independent judiciary and if judges are not independent then they might
disregard the laws.
The Rule of Law includes three distinct though kindred conceptions. These were
talked about by A.V. Dicey and the first one is the principle about the supremacy of
the law and the principle of legality. A.V Dicey had his own definition for the Rule of
1 Nicola Laver , 'The Rule of Law' (In Brief, 12 December 2018) <https://www.inbrief.co.uk/legal-
system/the-rule-of-law/> accessed 08 January 2022
2 National geographic society, 'The Rule of Law' (National Geographic, 15 March 2019)
<https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/rule-law/> accessed 08 January 2022
, 918624
Law, 3no man could be lawfully interfered or punished by the authorities except for
breaches of law established in the ordinary manner before the courts of land, no
man is above the law and everyone, whatever his condition or rank is, is subject to
the ordinary laws of the land and the result of the ordinary law of the land is
constitution. These are each of his concepts and within the first one he talks about
different things which are Magna Carta 1215 4Magna Carta was the first document to
put into writing the principle that the king and his government was not above the law.
It sought to prevent the king from exploiting his power, and placed limits of royal
authority by establishing law as a power in itself. A.V Dicey mentions Clause 29 of
5
Magna Carta No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised of his
freehold, or liberties, or free customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise
destroyed; nor will we pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful judgement his
peers, or by the law of the land. We will sell to man, we will not deny or defer to any
man either Justice or Right. Within the first conception A.V. Dicey talks about Ivor
Jennings and this is under the principle of legality and Dicey believed that any
substantial discretionary power was a danger to liberty. But he failed to mention that
even in his day public authorities did- in fact- possess wide discretionary authority.
The second conception is all about equality before the law and the subjection of
everyone to the ordinary courts. And Dicey’s main gripe was with French droit
administratif where disputes with state officials were processed in separate
administrative courts, there is an administrative court in the UK. 6All persons shall be
equal before the courts and tribunals. In the determination of any criminal charge
against him, or of his rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be entitled
to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal
established by the law. This is the definition of what equality before the law is and it
does show that everyone will have their equality before the courts and that they are
3 Hannah Thompson, 'AV Dicey ' (Lexisnexis , 6 December 2018)
<https://www.lexisnexis.co.uk/blog/future-of-law/what-is-the-rule-of-law> accessed 08 January 2022
4 Uk parliament , 'Magna Carta' (UK Parliament , 17 November 2020)
<https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/originsofparliament/
birthofparliament/overview/magnacarta/> accessed 08 January 2022
5 Magna Carta Research, 'Magna Carta' (Magna Carta Research , 20 April 2018)
<https://magnacartaresearch.org/read/articles_of_barons/Article_29> accessed 08 January 2022
6 Claiming human rights, 'Equality before the law' (Claiming Human Rights, 14 March 2018)
<http://www.claiminghumanrights.org/equality_before_law_definition.html> accessed 08 January
2022
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