Chapter 8 Answers to the self-test questions

Questions

  1. What is the core idea of the rule of law?
  2. What are: (a) the middle and (b) the wide meanings of the rule of law?
  3. What is the purpose of the rule of law principle?
  4. Explain the decision in Entick v Carrington.
  5. Summarise Dicey’s three principles on the rule of law.
  6. What do formal theories on the rule of law describe?
  7. Is Lord Bingham’s view of the rule of law formal or substantive?
  8. What aspect of the rule of law did the court uphold in M v Home Office?
  9. Why is the right of access to the courts important?

Answers

  1. Everyone is bound by the law, including the government.
  2. (a) The middle meaning sets out guiding standards for making and enforcing law e.g. laws should be clear and accessible; (b) the wide meaning of the rule of law also requires that the law should offer benefits and protect fundamental rights and values, such as democracy, human rights, equality.
  3. To keep the people who govern a state in check, to prevent the abuse of power, and to require that all government action must be authorised by law.
  4. Government ministers require the authority of the law to act, and government interference with an individual’s property must be justified by law.
  5. People should only be punished for a breach of the law proved in court after a fair trial, government power needs legal limits and should not be arbitrary or based on wide discretion, everyone is equally subject to the law. In the UK, rights and freedoms originate from the courts and common law, not from a constitutional code.
  6. The form and procedure for making and applying law. They require that due process is observed and that law complies with minimum standards, rules, and procedure, but do not set out the substantive content of laws.
  7. Substantive because it requires the law to protect rights.
  8. Government ministers are not above the law.
  9. It ensures access to an independent judiciary, justice, and judicial review which enables individuals to challenge in court the actions of the executive (the government and public bodies).
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