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.