Four puzzles about the rule of law: why, what, where? And who cares? (part 2) Cover Image

Cztery zagadki o rządach prawa: Dlaczego? Co? Gdzie? I kogo to obchodzi? Część II
Four puzzles about the rule of law: why, what, where? And who cares? (part 2)

Author(s): Martin Krygier
Contributor(s): Katarzyna Mikołajczyk-Graj (Translator)
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Constitutional Law, Philosophy of Law
Published by: Stowarzyszenie Filozofii Prawa i Filozofii Społecznej – Sekcja Polska IVR
Keywords: rule of law; arbitrariness; exercise of power; aims of rule of law

Summary/Abstract: Central among the many obscurities that attend the rule of law are those named in the title of the article. The first part contains some preliminary remarks and attempt to answer the first question. This attempt is based on distinguishing to ways of understanding what rule of law is. By the first way rule of law is a theological concept, i.e. to know what it is we have to know its aims and by the second, anatomical one, the most important thing to understand it are rules and institutions that are usually conceived as its part. The authors holds a position that only the first way is appropriate and gives his own interpretation of aims of rule of law. This aim is legal reduction of the possibility of arbitrary exercise of power that is connected with four important reductions – of domination, of fear, of indignity, and of confusion.

  • Issue Year: 5/2012
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 5-19
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: Polish