The following basic principles of the role of lawyers, formulated to assist Member States in their task of promoting and ensuring the appropriate role of lawyers, should be respected and taken into account by Governments in their national laws and practices and should be brought to the attention of lawyers and others, such as judges, prosecutors, members of the executive and legislative branches, and the general public. These principles may also apply to persons who perform the function of lawyer without having the official status of legal counsel. Complete client relationship management system for law firms. In fact, the phrase has been quoted so many times that one commentator wrote that the phrase “has become meaningless due to ideological abuse and general overuse.” [2] I disagree. Because of the potential of the challenge to inspire individual actors and inform political and social change, it is important to rigorously identify the importance of the rule of law. To the extent that we can more clearly identify the principles of the rule of law, we can more effectively support the legal and political reforms that will advance them. These principles of fundamental justice are important because they have a broad impact on our society; Protecting these principles can lead to legal changes and help tell the story of who we believe in as a democratic and free nation. The principles of the rule of law are also substantive in that laws must be just and in conformity with the norms and standards of international human rights law. The rule of law also requires the avoidance of arbitrariness in the law. The International Bar Association (IBA) is another organization that has identified the characteristics of the rule of law. Due to the difficulty of defining the rule of law satisfactorily and comprehensively, the IBA has instead “adopted an authoritative statement on behalf of the global legal profession [that]. sets out some of the essential characteristics of the rule of law. [30] These characteristics include: These four universal principles form a functional definition of the rule of law.

They have been developed according to internationally recognized norms and standards and tested and refined in consultation with a wide variety of experts around the world. Here are some of the basic principles that make up the U.S. legal system. Each of them is discussed in more detail in this chapter and others in this book. They are summarized below to give the reader an overview of some of the basics of U.S. common law. There is considerable authority mentioned above that these eight principles are at the heart of the importance of the rule of law. The following section deals with other principles that could also be considered important aspects of the rule of law. Without an independent legal profession, there is no certainty that just laws and the protection of human rights will be enforced. An independent judiciary cannot do this alone.

In fact, it could be argued that an independent judiciary will not exist without an independent bar. The American system is a “common law” system that relies heavily on precedents in formal decisions. In our common law system, court decisions in previous court proceedings, even when it is a statute, are extremely important for the court to resolve the case before it. Throughout history, many important ideas, events and theories have shaped our justice system. We have also seen key ideas or principles emerge over time. Impartiality, the rule of law, equality, fairness and the right to the presumption of innocence are fundamental principles that are important to our legal system. 10. Governments, professional associations of lawyers and educational institutions shall ensure that a person is not discriminated against on the basis of race, colour, sex, ethnic origin, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, economic or other status when entering or continuing to practise as a lawyer; unless it is necessary for a lawyer to be a national of the country concerned, shall not be considered discriminatory. Cases are legal decisions based on a number of specific facts involving parties with a genuine interest in the controversy. [The rule of law] refers to a principle of governance in which all public and private persons, institutions and bodies, including the State itself, are accountable to laws that are publicly proclaimed, applied equally and independently decided, and that are in conformity with international human rights norms and standards. They are important for the legal systems of all nations. Listen to lawyer Kimberley Motley`s TED Talks presentation.

This video gives us a fascinating insight into the legal system in Afghanistan. Here, too, the principle of the rule of law is important. 6. Such persons, who do not have a lawyer, shall be entitled, in all cases where the interests of the judiciary so require, to a lawyer with experience and competence appropriate to the nature of the offence assigned to them in order to provide effective legal assistance without being remunerated by them if they do not have sufficient resources: to pay for these services. Through these historical documents, organizational definitions, as well as modern science and discourse, several principles have emerged that are at the heart of the importance of the rule of law. They contain at least the following ideas. When you watch the conference, you consider the question: What principles of justice are presented in the video? Use the information in the video to explain the rule of law and its meaning in your own words. An independent and impartial judiciary; the presumption of innocence; the right to a fair and public trial without undue delay; a rational and proportionate approach to punishment; a strong and independent legal profession; strict protection of confidential communications between lawyer and client; Equality of all before the law. [31] All of these principles are unlikely to be sound in a society.

This does not require the conclusion that the rule of law does not exist in such a society. Second, the federal judicial system is based on a system of “jurisdiction,” that is, the geographic distribution of the courts at certain levels. For example, while there is only one Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal is divided into 13 counties and there are 94 district courts. In addition, each state judicial system includes its own “jurisdiction”. As mentioned earlier, the jurisdiction in which a case occurred determines which court decisions constitute binding precedents. The four universal principles are further developed in the following factors in the annual Rule of Law Index® of the World Justice Project (WJP), the world`s leading source of original and independent rule of law data. The latest edition of the index draws on surveys of more than 138,000 households and 4,200 lawyers and experts to measure how the rule of law is experienced and perceived around the world. Our data provides up-to-date and reliable information to policymakers, civil society organizations, academics, citizens, businesses and lawyers, among others. The index`s results have been cited by heads of state, chief justices, business leaders and officials, including media coverage in more than 190 countries around the world.

I propose that the important sources for identifying the substantive principles of justice of the rule of law should be the fundamental United Nations documents on human rights. These documents – the Universal Declaration of Human Rights[44] and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights[45] – set out principles agreed upon by the nations of the world, which constitute the fundamental human rights of all human beings.