Rule Of Law In The United Kingdom
Britain is the birthplace of parliamentary governance. It has a history of constitutional development. It is against this backdrop that this unwritten constitution from the 12th century onwards presented a bizarre example of a monarchical and later democratic system of governance to the world. The rule of law is considered a feature in Britain’s unwritten constitution. On the basis of which it is said that there is no rule of any individual in Britain. There is an empire of law and administration that operates under the umbrella of law.
Laud Bice wrote about justice, “If the lamp of justice is extinguished, then the darkness of injustice will be very dense.” This statement applies 100 percent in Britain and there is actually rule of law in place of individual-specific administration. To be honest, in the history of the world, the General Law of Rome and the Common Law of Britain have been the guide of all the laws of the world. Therefore, Prof. Diacene has classified the importance of the rule of law in Britain in three parts.
Importance of the rule of law in Britain in three parts
- The sovereignty of law is not an individual- specific influence in Britain, as John Austin has written – “Law is the command of the sovereign.” This does not apply to the rule of law in Britain. Indeed there is the supremacy of law and on the basis of that law, high officials of the administration and ordinary citizens are administered.
There is no one who can say that in place of supremacy of law, some other institution is dominated. The entire citizens of the country are bound by the law and are maintaining the dignity of the British constitution and governance. - One court and legal system for all citizens and individuals – Every citizen is equal before the law in Britain. There is only one judiciary and one legal system for all citizens. By which the citizens of there are administered. France has a different system from Britain. There is separate judiciary or separate courts and law and order for government employees. Whereas in Britain there is no such thing. In India and America, all citizens are governed under the same judiciary and under the same law as Britain. Be it the President of India or an ordinary citizen of India. The situation is similar in America as well, but unlike France in Britain and India, and America are administered by the same judiciary and under the same law and order.
- Guardian of Civil Rights- Due to the rule of law, the fundamental rights of the citizens there are more safe and protected than the neglect of other countries. In India, it is also said that the “Supreme court is the guardian of the Indian constitution.” But here is a different feature of the constitution, which is called “The Indian constitution is a lawyer’s Paradise”. The guardian or the basis of the unwritten constitution is the rule of law itself. On the basis of the rule of law, the nuances of the entire law are explained there. Whenever difficulty or contradiction arises in the constitution, the law itself should These problems are solved by the basis or by law. In the UK, like India, due to the rule of law, there is no delay in hearing of cases. It is often said that the number of cases pending in India is as many as possible. There is no court in any country. At present, there are only about 9 million civil cases pending in India. The same situation is with the criminal cases in India, but the rule of law in Britain is so beautiful and well-organized, due to which there Hearing of all types of cases would be done on time. is. There is a sayings about justice- “Justice delay means justice denied.” This proverb does not apply in the same system of law due to the importance of the rule of law.
Restrictions and limitations on the importance of law in Britain, which can be described as:
- The personality of Emperor- The specialty of the rule of law over the emperor in Britain is that the same kind of law will be used on all citizens whether emperor or ordinary citizen, but the emperor can neither be present in any court nor The rule of law has its effect on it. As stated- “The king is the fountain of justice.” Then further stated, “The king can do no wrong.” On the basis of these two proverbs, the importance of the rule of law with the emperor becomes insignificant.
- Discretionary authority of government officials- Government officials do not pay attention to the importance of rule of law while exercising their rights and while exercising their rights, they also create some new laws, due to which the importance of rule of law also decreases.
- Special rights of Home Minister- Citizenship from abroad is granted citizenship by the Home Minister in Britain or by the Prime Minister himself, or the traitors are granted citizenship and allowed to leave the country. In such a situation, the importance of rule of law decreases.
- Military court on military system-Military courts have been set up in Britain for military teams and their cases are heard in that court. Hence the importance of the rule of law does not apply to the military court.
- Provided Legislation- In Britain, Parliament does not have enough time to deal with the entire proceedings of the nation on its own, or sometimes the Parliament is unable to understand the finer points of administration. In such circumstances, the Parliament hands over its power to other institutions. And those institutions make laws according to their own mind and administer the administration.
- Administrative Rules and Courts– In Britain, the importance of the rule of law reduces the administrative court and judiciary, because the administrative court there administers the judiciary under its jurisdiction based on its own rules. Therefore, even in this situation, the rule of law becomes insignificant.
- This rule does not apply to foreigners, such as foreigners who have come to Britain as ambassadors or high commissioners or other types of foreigners who have come for trade, education, etc., this rule does not apply also.
Therefore, it can be said that British rule also has many limitations over the rule of law, by which the rule of law becomes insignificant in many ways. But in fact, we can say that the limits on them are true to a great extent, but due to this the importance of the rule of law does not decrease there but the importance of the rule of law is on the path of progress. Even today, due to this feature, Britain has a different importance before other countries of the world and that is the rule of law in Britain. Which no one can deny.