The Rule of Law

'What's wonderful about this book is that it's not a law book; it's for everybody. It explains, clearly, simply, powerfully, to a lay audience what the rule of law means and how important it is to everybody in modern society. Everyone should read this book' SHAMI CHAKRABARTI

'The Rule of Law' is a phrase much used but little examined. In this brilliant short book, Britain's former senior Law Lord, and one of the world's most acute legal minds, examines what the idea actually means. He makes clear that it is not an arid legal doctrine but the foundation of a fair and just society, a guarantee of responsible government, and an important contributor to economic growth.

Tom Bingham examines the historical origins of the rule of law, advances eight conditions which capture its essence as understood in western democracies today – and explains why the rule of law offers the best means yet devised for securing peace and co-operation.

Tom Bingham, 'the most eminent of our judges' (Guardian), held office successively as Master of the Rolls, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales and Senior Law Lord of the United Kingdom, the only person ever to hold all three offices. He became a life peer, as Baron Bingham of Cornhill in the County of Powys, on becoming Lord Chief Justice in 1996. In 2005 he was appointed a Knight of the Garter, the first professional judge to be so honoured. He retired in 2008, and in the same year was elected by the Institut de France as the first winner of the Prize for Law awarded by the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation.