Dynamic Programming

The term “Rule of Law means literally means the governance of law, the state of being governed by law through the agency of man i.e. a regime of government of law as opposed to a government based on the whims and caprices of man.

It is believed that the term ‘rule of law’ is Greek in origin having been associated with Greek aspirations, and particularly the renowned Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle. It stems from the distrust which the Greeks had for human nature. They had observed that man is by nature self-centered and will stop at nothing to annihilate opponent and exterminate opposition.

Rule of law primarily means that everything must be done in accordance with the law. This implies that governmental organs and agencies must act in such a way that their conduct against the life, liberty and property of persons are legally justified or founded.

One of the most notable exponents of the concept is Albert Venn Dicey, Professor of English Law at Oxford. He recognized rule of law as comprising three meanings as follows:

(a) Firstly, it means the absolute supremacy or predominance of regular law as opposed to the influence of arbitrary power and excludes the existence of arbitrariness, of prerogative or even of wide discretionary authority on the part of the government. That is, no man is punishable or can be lawfully made to suffer in body or goods except for a distinct breach of the law established in the ordinary legal manner before the ordinary courts of the land.

According to him:

It means in the first place, the absolute supremacy or predominance of regular law as opposed to the influence of arbitrary power, and excludes the existence of arbitrariness, of prerogative, or even wide discretionary authority on the part of the government … a man may be punished for a breach of law, but he can be punished for nothing else.

(b) The second aspect of the rule of law is: equality before the law, or equal subjection of all classes to the ordinary law of the land administered by ordinary courts. Simply put, that no man is above the law; officials and private citizens are under a duty to obey the law;

and that there are no administrative courts to which are referred claims by the citizens against the state or its officials.

Recall that Dicey contrasted the rule of law with the droit administratif of France. In the system obtainable in France, there are specialized courts established to hear matters involving government officials. In other words, the courts that determined issues amongst private persons were different from the ones that handled matters concerning public officials.

This practice was declared by Dicey to be inconsistent with the rule of law. And because such dual court system was non-existent in the United Kingdom, he had erroneously declared the latter to be lacking in administrative law. He was wrong.

He wrote in criticism of the French administrative system which he used as a basis for rejecting the emergence of an administrative arm of government in England. However, the administrative arm of government has become an indispensable or inevitable hallmark of modern system of government with more and more powers entrusted to administrators to do. This is because of the need for the government to be more responsible for the proper functioning of the socio-economic and political system, and the welfare needs of the people.

(c) Lastly, the Rule of law may be used as a formula for expressing the fact that with us the laws of the Constitution, the rules which in foreign countries naturally form part of the constitutional code, are not the source but the consequence of the rights of individuals as defined and enforced by the courts.

In the case of Governor of Lagos State v. Ojukwu, (1986) 1 NWLR 621 AT 647 Oputa, JSC (as he then was) conceptualized the rule of law in the following words:

The rule of law presupposes that the state is subject to the law, that the judiciary is a necessary agency of the rule of law, that the Government should respect the right of individual citizens under the rule of law and that to the judiciary, is assigned both by the rule of law and by our constitution the determination of all actions and proceedings relating to matters in disputes between persons, Governments or authority.

In the same vein, in his own conceptualization of the rule of law in the same case, Obaseki, Jsc (as he then was) had this to say:

Rule of law primarily means that Government should be conducted within the framework of recognized rules and principles which restrict discretionary powers which Coke colourfully spoke of as a golden and straight method of law as opposed to the uncertain and crooked cord of discretion.

Lastly, emphasizing the centrality of the concept of rule of law to constitutional democracy and

good governance, the Supreme Court in Miscellaneous Offences Tribunal v. Okorafor (2001) 18 NWLR (Pt. 745) 310 @ 327 said as follows:

Nigerian constitution is founded on the rule of law, the primary meaning of which is that everything must be done according to law.

It means also that government should be conducted within the framework of recognized rules and principles which restrict discretionary powers.

The doctrine of Rule of Law is one of the pillars upon which true democracy and good governance is established upon. Historically, the concept is rooted upon the theories of early philosophers, who in their own ways proffered various definitions to the doctrine. Aristotle expressed the view that the Rule of Law was preferable to that of any individual.

In the 17th century, John Locke commented on the concept of Rule of Law that:

Freedom of men under government is to have a standing rule of live by, common to everyone of that society and made by the legislative power created in it, and not to be subject to the inconstant,

unknown, arbitrary will of another man.

What John Locke meant in essence was that the Rule of Law meant that all governmental powers was to be exercised and determined by reasonably laid down law and not by the whims and caprices of anybody or authority. However, the widely accepted and authoritative definition of the concept was proffered by Albert Venn Dicey.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1 1. Discuss the ingredients of rule of law