Criticality elucidate the nexus of Rule of law and Human rights.
The term rule of law refers to a principle of governance in which all persons,
institutions and entities, public and private, including the state itself, are
accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and
independently adjudicated, and which are consistent with international human
rights norms and standards. It requires, as well, measures to ensure adherence to
the principles of supremacy of law, equality before the law, accountability to the
law, fairness in the application of the law, separation of powers, participation in
decision-making, legal certainty, avoidance of arbitrariness and procedural and
legal transparency. Equality before the law requires above all that a person
cannot be punished unless it is done by the law. Another way of understanding
this is to say that a legal system under the rule of law has processes which give
people, regardless of their status, equal access to the rights they are entitled to
under the law, for example:
Equality before the law in the criminal trial process means that all are
entitled, regardless of their status in society or the crime they are accused
with, to the presumption of innocence and the opportunity to put their
case before an independent and impartial court.
Equality before the law includes being able to challenge the decision of a
government agency on equal footing. For equality before the law to exist
here the government must follow certain rules when dealing with an
individual, because the resources of the government far outstrip those of
most, if not all, individuals.
The backbone of the freedom to live in dignity is the international human rights
framework, together with international humanitarian law, international criminal
law and international refugee law. Those foundational parts of the normative
framework are complementary bodies of law that share a common goal: the
protection of the lives, health and dignity of persons. The rule of law is the
vehicle for the promotion and protection of the common normative framework.
It provides a structure through which the exercise of power is subjected to
agreed rules, guaranteeing the protection of all human rights. the rule of law