Lawyers and the Rule of Law

Abstract

This book examines lawyers’ contributions to creating and maintaining the rule of law, one of the pillars of a liberal democracy. It moves from the European Enlightenment to the modern day, exploring the role of judges, government lawyers, and private practitioners in creating, defining, and being defined by, the demands of modern society. The book is divided into four parts representing the big themes. The first part considers lawyers’ contribution to the growth of constitutionalism; the second, the formulation of roles and identities; and the third the formation of values. The fourth part focuses on the challenges faced by lawyers and the rule of law in the past 50 years – the neoliberal period – and how they challenge both conceptions of lawyers and the rule of law. Each part is illustrated by defining events, from the execution of Charles I, through the Nuremberg Trials, to the insurrection by supporters