ABSTRACT
This chapter considers two concepts that are not always, or indeed usually, dealt with in English legal system textbooks: the two interrelated concepts are ‘the rule of law’ and ‘human rights’. However, it is the contention of the authors that ideas about the rule of law and human rights are, and always should have been, at the core of our understanding and assessment of any, and certainly our own, legal system, and further that they are assuming a more apparent and increased centrality and importance in relation to its operation and justification. The ‘rule of law’ represents a symbolic ideal against which proponents of widely divergent political persuasions measure and criticise the shortcomings of contemporary state practice. It also requires an understanding of the role of judicial review and the effect of the Human Rights Act 1998, and has caused no little friction between the judiciary and the executive, especially in the person of the Home Secretary.
