Overcoming the Gendered Limits of the Rule of Law by Development Organizations - Essay Example

There should be no discrimination in the application of existent laws to individuals based on their status in society. From this theory, even government officials and government institutions are subject to the legislation in a country. Status in society is not a basis for exemption from the law. The concept of the rule of law concept is said to have its origin from Greek and Roman roots. In its development, it survived as inchoate during the medieval period. The concept of the rule of law was viewed as a product of western political and legal thought.

In its development, the rule of law evolved to have certain characteristics. Among the characteristics said to constitute the rule of law is that of formal legality. Formal legality basically entails that a law has to be public, prospective, stable and generally applicable through a fair judicial process3. A law has to be promulgated publicly in society. It should reasonably be of common knowledge to the members of the society. A policy that has been given the force of law by the required institutions of the government should be made public.

The newly enacted law should be promulgated publicly to enable it to come to the knowledge of citizens of a particular country or state. The rule of law also requires that a law should be prospective in nature. Prospective means that a law should not seek to punish or penalize acts done before they came into being. A law that is promulgated as required by the legal institutions in place becomes active from the day that it is promulgated4. Therefore, it only penalizes and punishes acts done from the date that it is promulgated.

It follows that no man can be prosecuted for a non-existent offense or an offense that is not provided for by law. On this premise therefore it is required that a law should be prospective in nature. Another principle in the rule of law is that a law should be stable. The stability of the law means that the law should not keep changing unnecessarily. This is so as to enable the uniform application of the law without inconsistence.