The Rule of Law
The rule of law is an important pillar of any society. It ensures that everyone has equal access to justice and protects individual rights. The rule of law should be epistemically accessible, that is, it should be a body of norms promulgated as public knowledge. This way, people can learn it, internalize it, and use it as a guide for their everyday lives. In addition, the rule of law should ensure that legal institutions are open to ordinary people and help them to settle disputes and prevent abuses of power. This is accomplished through the independence of the judiciary, and through transparency in public business.
Principles of the Rule of Law
The Rule of Law is a fundamental principle of constitutional democracy. It is the system that separates power between the executive, judiciary, and legislature and applies the same rules and laws to everyone. Under this system, all citizens are subject to the law, and they are free to make decisions that are in their best interests. This system is also a guarantee against official arbitrariness.
While Bingham’s definition emphasizes the need for a democratic form of government, this is not necessarily the case. In many ways, benevolent dictatorships also embody most of the principles of the rule of law.
Legality
The question of the legitimacy of law is a central one in the philosophy of law. Although we are often inclined to think in terms of the validity of laws and the rule of law, this is not the only concern of legal philosophers. We should also consider other aspects of legitimacy, such as social norms and political control.
While laws protect us from bad behavior, it is important to remember that these laws cannot change our hearts or minds overnight. Laws are enacted to guarantee basic human freedoms rooted in the social contract theory of government. These include the right to own property, the freedom to associate with other people, and a minimum standard of living.
Substantive ideals
Law is an institution that creates rules and procedures. These ideals are fundamental to a rule of law, as they help to ensure that everyone is treated equally and that the rule of law is applied fairly. They also protect the rights of individuals in a society. Some examples of substantive ideals in law are: equality before the law, gender equality, and avoiding arbitrariness in the law.
Some scholars believe that formal principles of law constitute a morality, while others believe that law respects the autonomy of individuals. Regardless of the individual’s stance on the issue, the formal/procedural character of law is a key tool in establishing rules of justice. In either case, a system of rules can’t achieve morally valuable goals unless it minimally complies with the principles of legality.
Accessibility
The European Union (EU) has enacted the EU Web Accessibility Directive, which mandates web accessibility for mobile devices, public services and the internet, and common accessibility standards. Its goal is to help European citizens participate in the digital economy. In addition, the EN 301 549 standard has provided legal force to the W3C’s WCAG guidelines, and requires all EU member states to implement WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
The French government has also implemented the WCAG 2.0 international standard as a way to make the web accessible to the 17% of the population with disabilities. The French government has also enacted the Digital Governance law, which amends Article 47 of Law No 2005-102. This new law addresses open access, data portability and data retrieval, among other issues.