rule of law

government by strict adherence to the law; political situation in which the law is strictly enforced upon the citizens

The rule of law, in its most basic form, is the principle that no one is above the law. The rule follows logically from the idea that truth, and therefore law, is based upon fundamental principles which can be discovered, but which cannot be created through an act of will. Perhaps the most important application of the rule of law is the principle that governmental authority is legitimately exercised only in accordance with written, publicly disclosed laws adopted and enforced in accordance with established procedural steps that are referred to as due process. The principle is intended to be a safeguard against arbitrary governance, whether by a totalitarian leader or by mob rule. Thus, the rule of law is hostile both to dictatorship and to anarchy.  Samuel Rutherford was one of the first modern authors to give the principle theoretical foundations, in Lex, Rex (1644), and later Montesquieu in The Spirit of the Laws (1748).
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Noun
1. a state of order in which events conform to the law
(hypernym) order
(classification) law, jurisprudence

One of the EU’s goals on the international scene is strengthen the rule of law in neighbouring countries, notably in the western Balkan region.(See External dimension)

RULE - This is a metaphorical expression borrowed from mechanics. The rule, in its proper and natural sense, is an instrument by means of which may be drawn from one point to another, the shortest possible line, which is called a straight line.

The rule is a means of comparison in the arts to judge whether the line be straight, as it serves in jurisprudence, to judge whether an action be just or unjust, it is just or right, when it agrees with the rule, which is the law. It is unjust and wrong, when it deviates from it. lt is the same with our will or our intention.

RULE OF LAW - Rules of law are general maxims, formed by the courts, who having observed what is common to many particular cases, announce this conformity by a maxim, which is called a rule; because in doubtful and unforeseen cases, it is a rule for their decision; it embraces particular cases within general principles.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.