ABSTRACT
The formal separation of powers and the rule of law are each central to liberal democracy and are said to ‘characterise the institutional arrangements of British government’. The rule of law is rightly contrasted to arbitrary powers and requires ‘the subjection of particular laws to general, open and stable ones’. Critical theories of the state, legitimacy and the rule of law, will then be used to analyse the structural and power relations of an advanced capitalist society. The governing of society is ‘conducted by men, not according to their whim, but guided and limited by law, legally defined and constituted’. Definitions of crime and criminal law differ according to economic and ideological circumstances and may be influenced by prejudices and stereotypes. ‘Domination is a universal feature of a class society’ where ‘exploitative relations are perpetuated’ and the law, in an advanced capitalist state must be an ‘internally coherent expression’ of the economic priorities.
