The Contributions Of Plato And Aristotle's Rule Of Law

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The phrase ‘Rule of Law’ is derived from the French phrase ‘la principe de legalite’ (the principle of legality) which refers to a government based on principles of law and not of men. Rule of Law primarily connotes that everything must be done according to law. Every act of governmental power i.e. every act which affects the legal rights, duties or liberties of any person must be shown to have some legal pedigree. The concept of Rule of law traces its origin in the works of Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle around 350 BC. Plato wrote: “Where the law is subject to some other authority and has none of its own, the collapse of the state, in my view, is not far off; but if law is the master of the government and the government is its slave, then the situation is full of promise and men enjoy all the blessings that the gods shower on a state". Likewise, Aristotle also endorsed the concept of Rule of law by writing that "law should govern and those in power should be servants of the laws." The supremacy of the Crown in England guaranteed certain privileges and immunities to the progenies of the Royal blood and hence enjoyed unabridged and absolute power, evidenced by the legal maxim “rex non potest pecarre”. Abuses of power by the Stuart monarchy in England during the early 17th century led to the adoption of the…show more content…
This bill reinforced the Habeas Corpus Act, the Petition of Right, and the Petition of Grievances, and established other rule of law standards as constitutional foundations, such as the right to trial by jury, the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, and limitations on the powers of the monarchy. The Act of Settlement of 1701 later established Parliament's power to determine succession to the monarchy
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