Rule Of Law, Human Rights, And Democracy: An Analysis Of Key Principles, Issues, And Challenges

Abstract

This paper explores the close links between the rule of law, human right protection, and democracy. Human rights refer to the rights available to all men and women as human beings. The rule of law denotes not only equality before the law but it is also a human ideal— that is, “the rule of law, not of men” (Radin, 2005).  This article sheds light on the nature and scope of the rule of law and mechanism for its enforcement; it deals with the relevance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and it also discusses how important it is for protecting human rights. This article argues that all these issues, the rule of law, as couched in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, democracy, and the safeguarding of human rights, are not only inter-linked but necessary conditions for each other. That internal sovereignty poses a challenge to full compliance of states with an internationally recognized rule-of-law-based political orders. In contradistinction to the rule of kings and/or arbitrary use of personal judgments that would take the force of law, as was the case in the past, this paper argues that the rule of law not only provides a conducive environment for the safeguarding of human rights but also for the flourishing of democracy— that is, the rule of law strengthens democracy and democracy strengthens the rule of law.