Law

Rule of Law
Ambiguous term that can mean different things In one context the term means rule according to law. No individual can be ordered by the government to pay civil damages or suffer criminal punishment except in strict accordance with well-established and clearly defined laws and procedures In a second context the term means rule under law. No branch of government is above the law, and no public official may act arbitrarily or unilaterally outside the law. In a third context the term means rule according to a higher law. No written law may be enforced by the government unless it conforms with certain unwritten, universal principles of fairness, morality, and justice that transcend human legal systems.

 principle that all people and institutions are su

bject to and accountable to law that is fairly applied and en forced; the principle of government by law.

Due process of law

A fundamental, constitutional guarantee that all

legal proceedings will be fair and that one will be given notice of the proceedings and an opportunity to be heard before the government acts to take away one's life, liberty, or property. Also, a constitutional guarantee that a law shall not be unreasonable, Arbitrary, or capricious. The concept of due process originated in English Common Law. fair treatment through the normal judicial system, especially a citizen's entitlement to notice of a charge and a hearing before an impartial judge.

Due process of law cont.

(U.S.) DUE PROCESS CLAUSE of the Fifth

Amendment, ratified in 1791, asserts that no person shall "be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." This amendment restricts the powers of the federal government and applies only to actions by it. The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, declares,"[N]or shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law" ( 1). This clause limits the powers of the states, rather than those of the federal government.

Protection of the Law

(equal protection of law)

the right of all persons to have the same

access to the law and courts, and to be treated equally by the law and courts, both in procedures and in the substance of the law. It is akin to the right to due process of law, but in particular applies to equal treatment as an element of fundamental fairness

Protection of law cont.

The most famous case on the subject is Brown v.

Board of Education of Topeka (1954) in which Chief Justice Earl Warren, for a unanimous Supreme Court, ruled that "separate but equal" educational facilities for blacks was inherently unequal and unconstitutional since the segregated school system did not give all students equal rights under the law. It will also apply to other inequalities such as differentials in pay for the same work or unequal taxation. The principle is stated in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution: "No State shall..deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection