What are the general principles of the rule of law

The modern Western theory of the rule of law follows two paths of development: one path is to continue the development of the formalist theory of the rule of law tradition, the other is to attempt to repair the formalist theory of the rule of law defects of the substantive theory of the rule of law. The former is represented by the British scholar Raz and the American scholar Fuller. According to Raz, the rule of law literally means "the rule of law", there are broad and narrow sense. The rule of law in the broad sense means that "people should obey the law and be ruled by the law", but in political and legal theory, the rule of law should be understood in a narrow sense. That is, "Governments should be ruled by and subject to the law." The rule of law means that all government actions must have a legal basis and provide effective guidelines for people's behavior. Raz also proposed eight principles of the rule of law:

(1) The law shall not be retroactive and shall be open and clear;

(2) The law shall be relatively stable;

(3) The enactment of special laws shall be guided by general rules that are open, stable, and clear;

(4) Guaranteeing the independence of the judiciary;

(5) Observance of the principles of natural justice: public hearings, no biased justice;

(6) the courts should have powers of review over the implementation of other principles, i.e. review of parliamentary and administrative legislation, etc.

(7) the courts should be easily accessible: to save time and money;

(8) crime prevention agencies should not abuse the law in the exercise of their discretionary powers.

The eight principles of the rule of law are also presented when the moral basis of the law of principles of the rule of law. It is generally recognized that Fuller, despite his concern for the morality of law, he advocated the principle of the rule of law "is not of a moral nature", but is in fact no more than a form of the rule of law. The latter (both substantive rule of law) began with the German scholar Weber's discussion of the rationality of capitalist law. Since Weber, Newman, one of the leading figures of the Frankfurt School, has continued to observe the shift from the formal to the substantive rule of law, and has taken Weber's anticipation of an anti-formalism in the development of modern law a long way forward. after the 1950s there was a growing interest in the substantive rule of law, which was included in the Delhi Declaration, adopted by the Delhi Congress of Jurists in India in 1959. The Delhi Declaration, adopted by the Delhi Jurists' Conference in 1959, included the substantive rule of law. For example, the first of the three principles of the rule of law clearly states that "the rule of law should not only safeguard and promote the civil and political rights of the individual, but should also ensure the social, economic and cultural conditions in which the legitimate aspirations and dignity of the individual can be realized". As one of the most influential scholars in the contemporary West, American scholar Dworkin has not specifically addressed the issue of the rule of law, but we can see his clear challenge to the formal rule of law in his discussion of rights: he advocates moral rights, emphasizing that individuals can "conscientious objection" and "civil disobedience" to the unjust laws of the state; he opposes isolated forms of equality and advocates for more protection for disadvantaged groups and individuals; and he calls for the defense of the rule of law to be strengthened by the protection of civil and political rights. He rejected isolated formal equality and advocated greater protection for disadvantaged groups and individuals; he called for the defense of legal principles that embodied the requirements of "fairness and justice" and so on, all of which contained the obvious spirit of the substantive rule of law.

China in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States period also had the rule of law and the rule of man, but the content of the rule of law and the rule of law of Ancient Greece is very different from the meaning of the occurrence of the ancient Chinese legalists and deduce the modern and modern theories of the rule of law. In a certain sense, the modern Chinese theory of the rule of law is only the result of the eastward trend of the west.