|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
The following excerpts are from; "The Rule of Law" - Copyright 2009, The Public Policy Foundation of West Virginia: The rule of law makes economic life more predictable and helps to promote prosperity and rising living standards. Economic growth ultimately boils down to ordinary people making sound future-oriented decisions on everyday matters. For this process to work, people need good incentive structures and a reasonably predictable economic climate. Thus, it is the rightful place of the law to set the rules of the game and make economic life more predictable by protecting the security or rights to property and contract. By doing so, the legal system sets the right implicit prices for people to channel their own self-interested decisions into benefits for society. If we set good rules, people will have the right incentives to promote economic growth. However, the law should not reward opportunistic behavior or set too low an implicit price on violating people's property and contract rights. When the objective of a state's legal System wrongly becomes to redistribute wealth, or change the winners and losers after the fact, this will distort people's incentives and create an environment where people cannot readily predict whether they will enjoy the benefits of their own good decisions. This severs ties between the rule of law and economic growth. By ensuring sound and stable legal; institutions, West Virginians will have the right incentives and a predictable environment for making the kinds of everyday decisions that lead to economic growth and a more prosperous West Virginia into the future. MEASURING THE RULE OF LAW What are the basic legal principles that embody the rule of law, and are these principles amenable to empirical measurement? The American Bar Association breaks down the rule of law into four attributes:
The government and its officials and agents are accountable under the Law.
The laws are clear, publicized, stable and fair, and protect fundamental rights, including the security of persons and property.
The process by which the laws are enacted, administered and enforced is accessible, fair and efficient.
The laws are upheld, and access to justice is provided, by competent, independent, and ethical law enforcement officials, attorneys or representatives, and judges who are of sufficient number, have adequate resources, and reflect the makeup of the communities they serve.
The Rule of Law was published after Legal Aspects of Torts, Trespass and Intent, as mentioned in "It Was The Worst Of Times".
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
