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The rule of law is enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union as one of the common values for all Member States. Under the rule of law, all public powers always act within the constraints set out by law, in accordance with the values of democracy and fundamental rights, and under the control of independent and impartial courts.
Lincoln then warned that a tyrant could overtake the U.S. political system from within, if disregard for the rule of law continued unabated. [5] He said: It is to deny what the history of the world tells us is true, to suppose that men of ambition and talents will not continue to spring up amongst us.
This concept of the rule of the law can, therefore, be upheld by even the most tyrannical dictatorship. Such a regime may allow for the normal operation of courts between private parties, and the limited questioning of the government within a dictatorial framework. [1] Whether the rule of law can truly exist without democracy is debated.
Legal awareness, sometimes called public legal education or legal literacy, is the empowerment of individuals regarding issues involving the law. [1] Legal awareness helps to promote consciousness of legal culture, participation in the formation of laws and the rule of law.
He explored the relationship between law and general social norms and distinguished between "positive law," consisting of the compulsive norms of state requiring official enforcement, and "living law," consisting of the rules of conduct that people in fact obeyed and which dominated social life.
Thomas Aquinas defined law as "an ordinance of reason made for the common good by him who has charge of the community, and promulgated". [16] Common good constitutionalism adopts this definition, treating positive law as a promulgated ordinance of reason, where "ordinance of reason" invokes that law which is ascertainable reason, or the natural ...
Legal formalism is both a descriptive and normative theory of how judges should decide cases. [1] In its descriptive sense, formalists maintain that judges reach their decisions by applying uncontroversial principles to the facts; formalists believe that there is an underlying logic to the many legal principles that may be applied in different cases.
John Locke incorporated natural law into many of his theories and philosophy, especially in Two Treatises of Government. Locke turned Hobbes' prescription around, saying that if the ruler went against natural law and failed to protect "life, liberty, and property," people could justifiably overthrow the existing state and create a new one.