The Rule of Law - Essay Example

Nevertheless, under all contexts that the concept of the Rule of Law should be applied, it anticipates two major aspects; fairness and equality. The meaning of the Rule of Law can be broken down into different contexts, where the first two contexts adheres to the proposition by Webley & Samuels, 2012, that “The rule of law is a doctrine”, while the third context in which the Rule of Law can derive its meaning, is pitched on the other proposition by Webley & Samuels, 2012, that “The rule of law is a theory”.

Thus, the Rule of Law can be applied in the first context to mean “according to the law”. Under this context, the Rule of Law is then applied to mean that no individual, regardless of the social status or the position of power they hold in the society, can be subject to a form of punishment that is not in accordance with laws that are well established and clearly and procedurally defined3. This context of the application of the rule of law therefore means that any criminal charges leveled against an entity, be it an individual, a group or an organization must be in line with laws that are well-established and which are clearly understood by the entity, and whose procedure is well known.

Therefore, this context of the law anticipates the application of the law to be aligned with the existing doctrines. This prevents an individual or an entity from being punished for any violation that is not punishable by the law4. Relevant case: Papachristou v. City of Jacksonville, 405 U.S. 156, 92 S. Ct. 839, 31 L. Ed. 2d 110 [1972] The Papachristou v. Jacksonville is case in relation to a vagrancy ordinance enacted by the city of Jacksonville in Florida State, where the law prohibited a large form of freelance activities, which included strolling, wandering and moving from place to place, without any lawful intent or object5.

The defendant, Papachristou, was among eight other individuals that were arrested and charged with vagrancy in a court of law in Jacksonville, city, for disorderly loitering. Upon an appeal in the United States Supreme Court, the court declared that the Jacksonville ordinance was largely vague constitutionally, since the ordinance did not create any distinction between the illegal and the innocent activities, thus could end-up criminalizing innocent movement activities such as walking at night or habitual movement which had no visible intent5.

This vagueness granted the police arbitrary powers to determine which activities they would interpret as lawful, and which ones to declare innocent, following the lack of well-established laws, which are clearly understood by the entity, and whose procedure is well known5. The Supreme Court therefore held that the defendant would not be criminally liable, under such vague law. The second context under which the rule of law can be confidently applied is to mean; “rule under the law”6. Here, the concept of the Rule of Law would therefore mean that no one is above the law, and thus no one has the freedom to apply law arbitrarily, even when such an entity is the one formulating such laws.

Therefore, the second context of the rule of law anticipates that all individuals and entities will be subjected to equal treatment by the law, and thus no one can be favored, and no one can be prejudiced by the same law, regardless of