Michael Foran: "The Rule of Law and Human Flourishing"

Abstract: The rule of law is associated with several disparate principles. For it to be a coherent doctrine, it must have some underlying rationale; a normative core which explains its purpose. Only from here can assessment of compliance with the rule of law begin. Compliance must be measured qualitatively by reference to this underlying rationale rather than quantitatively or empirically. Several underlying explanations have been offered with the most prominent being the idea of action guidance. This paper argues, following recent scholarship challenging this idea, that the underlying normative core of the rule of law is that legal officials adopt an attitude of respect towards legal subjects and consequently take their flourishing to be a constitutive aspect of the legal systems success. To rule through law involves ruling in the public interest, recognising important truths about the moral status of legal subject in so doing.