The Rule of Law
By Bill Conger
Law Day is May 1, and the American Bar Association theme this year is the Rule of Law. This theme is particularly important now as we witness the events in Pakistan where the government of Pervez Musharraf suspends the constitution, puts the sitting Supreme Court under house arrest, installs its own justices and arrests scores of protesting lawyers. In our own country, we are beset by serious threats to the independence of our judiciary, a rising population of persons who are denied access to justice because they cannot afford it and the existence of too many laws that are biased toward special interests.
The term “rule of law” is one that many of us, and not just lawyers, use so often but never really understand its meaning. Since it sounds like a good principle, many use the term to legitimize a particular belief about the correctness of a law. Such was the case recently when the John Birch Society and other groups staged what they called a “Rule of Law Rally” in support
of House Bill 1804 — the immigration bill. That is not what the rule of law means to me. The rule of law is a concept.
I have read many definitions of the rule of law. Many are substantially similar, but I believe the working definition provided by the World Justice Project captures the concept in its broadest sense and in the most succinct way. The rule of law compromises four universal principles:
- A system of self-government in which all persons, including the government, are accountable under the law;
- A system based on fair, publicized,
broadly understood and stable laws;
- A fair, robust and accessible legal process in which rights and responsibilities based in law are enforced impartially;
- Diverse, competent, independent and ethical lawyers and judges.
Because their principles are universal, they matter to all of us who make up our community — the clergy, teachers, doctors, lawyers, business people, police, fire department, the military — in essence all fields of endeavors. As ABA President William Neukom so aptly states, “The Rule of Law is a framework guiding the relationship of citizens with our fellow citizens, of citizens with their governments and of governments with other governments. It is nothing less than the essential foundation of communities of equity and opportunity of any scale and any location. There can be no social justice without simple justice — the rule of law.”
OBA HOLDS CONFERENCE
In order to increase more awareness of how the absence of an adequate rule of law infrastructure consigns billions of people to lives characterized by violence, poverty, corruption, ignorance and poor health and to promote better awareness of the importance of the rule of law across all segments of society, the Oklahoma Bar Association sponsored a Rule of Law Conference on April 11 at the Meinders School of Business at Oklahoma City University. The conference was an educational event and included, by invitation only, leaders from diverse sectors and disciplines, such as government, business, law, medicine, the clergy, media and law enforcement. We are excited to be a part of this initiative.
Sincerely,
To contact President
Conger, e-mail him at bconger@okcu.edu |
