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การประช ม ิชาการ าบัน ระปก กล า รั ประ ป

HOW RULE OF LAW CAN STRENGTHEN DEMOCRACY

Professor Andrew Harding*

The Agenda for this Congress states: ‘Although
it is difficult to define this concept [the rule of law],
it is possible to make concrete use of it.’

I agree. We should not be too troubled by the
lack of total clarity in the term ‘the rule of law’. Most
abstract terms have a core meaning and a penumbra
or shadow of possible meaning. Terms even change
meaning substantially over time. ‘Rule of law’ is no
worse and no better than other concepts in this
respect. For example, it is now widely accepted that
‘thin’ rule of law in the sense of legal certainty and
due process is inadequate, and we need to include
human rights within its meaning. We can use the rule
of law as a tool because its core meaning is obvious,
even though it is also true that it has many potential
implications which might be seen as part of its
meaning. These implications are the source of the

* Director, Centre for Asian Legal Studies, National University of
Singapore