The Rule of Law and Human Rights

This chapter deals with two interrelated concepts of 'the rule of law' and 'human rights'. 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. This varied recourse to the rule of law is, of course, only possible because of the lack of precision in the actual meaning of the concept. The fundamental nature of the concept of the rule of law is and always has been central, although perhaps implicit, in all the aspects of the legal system that are considered in this text. However, the Constitutional Reform Act (CRA) 2005 has for the first time recognised this centrality in the form of a statutory provision. The UK was one of the initial signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) in 1950, which was instituted in post-war Europe as a means of establishing and enforcing essential human rights.