Formation and Development of the Doctrine of Rule of Law in English Legal Thought

Abstract

The subject of the study is the English constitutional doctrine of the rule of law, taken in the historical evolution of its understanding by leading authoritative lawyers and thinkers starting with H. de Bracton and ending with A.V. Dicey and modern British constitutional law jurists. The article presents both positivist and non-positivist interpretations of the doctrine. Particular attention is paid to the classical interpretation of the doctrine of the rule of law in the work of A.V. Dicey "Introduction to the Study of Constitutional Law" (1885): the main meanings of the concept are revealed and critical remarks set out in the British legal thought of the XX century are presented. The article concludes with a brief summary of the modern understanding of the doctrine of the rule of law in the contemporary legal literature. The novelty of the research is that for the first time in Russian jurisprudence, the historical reconstruction of the formation and development of ideas that make up the content of the doctrine of the rule of law is revealed. Special attention is paid to the contribution to the development of this legal doctrine by such jurists as J. Fortescue, E. Coke, S. Rutherford, J. Locke, A.V. Dicey. In addition, attention is paid to the distinction between interpretations of the concept by lawyers of the positivist and non-positivist legal thought. Critical understanding of A.V. Dicey's teaching on the rule of law and modern interpretations of the concept are presented for the first time in the Russian legal literature.