Dicey's Concepts of the Rule of Law
A.V. Dicey, a British jurist and constitutional theorist, proposed a theory on the supremacy of the rule of law, which he believed contained three distinct but related concepts.
First Concept: Legal Accountability
- Key Idea: No one is punishable or can lawfully suffer penalties in body or goods except for a distinct breach of law.
- Emphasizes legal accountability based on clear and established laws.
- Suggests that a breach must be clearly identifiable for legal action to be taken.
Second Concept: Equality Before the Law
- Key Idea: No one is above the law, and everyone is subject to the ordinary law of the land and ordinary courts.
- Highlights that no special courts exist for state officials; they, like any private individual, are subject to the ordinary courts.
- Focuses on equality before the law regardless of rank or status.
- Emphasis: On the word "ordinary," referring to both the ordinary courts and ordinary laws.
Third Concept: Judicial Decisions and Common Law
- Key Idea: The general principles of the Constitution, such as personal liberty and public meeting rights, arise from judicial decisions in specific cases.
- Advocates for common law, where legal principles develop through court decisions on individual cases.
- Believed this is a superior method of protecting the rule of law compared to top-down constitutional principles.
- Contrast with Foreign Constitutions: In many foreign systems, rights' security relies on general constitutional principles rather than judicial decisions.
Overall Significance
- Dicey’s articulation highlights judicial precedence over constitutional codification in safeguarding individual rights.
- Suggests that the common law system offers a more flexible and responsive protection mechanism for individual rights through specific case law.
- Reflects a preference for a ground-up system of legal principle development over a top-down constitutional approach.