The Social Dimension of the Rule of Law by Professor Jeff King, UCL

The paper will be circulated one week in advance. Professor Raymond Plant will kick off the discussion providing some comments.

Abstract: The core idea of this theoretical, historical and comparative essay is that the rule of law idea ought to be understood as necessitating an active state engaged in social protection, rather than a restrained state that can only act pursuant to clear rules announced beforehand. The paper rejects the classical liberal and formal liberal egalitarian versions of the concept. The former misunderstands the function of law, while the latter presents an unduly austere function of law in elaborating the rule of law desiderata. The author rather argues that (1) the rule of law idea comprises a protective function for the state (as evident in the old ‘law and order’ notion of the rule of law), and (2) that a theory of what law ought to protect should extend beyond concern with regulating private and public forms of coercion (the classical liberal preoccupation) to also include protection against interpersonal exploitation. Rather than breaking sharply with the liberal pedigree of the rule of law concept, the author contends that this social dimension is merely an evolution of the longstanding ‘rule of law’ concern with providing legal regulation of arbitrary behaviour and unfree choices. The overall conclusion is that the rule of law ideal commends a comprehensive range of enforceable legal rights against forms of interpersonal exploitation. The nature and form of such rights are described briefly, as is the link between social deprivation, social unrest, legitimacy and obedience to law.

About the speaker: Jeff King joined UCL Laws as a Senior Lecturer in 2011, and has been Professor of Law since 2016. He teaches public law, constitutional theory and jurisprudence. He is the Co-Editor of Current Legal Problems, and of the UK Constitutional Law Blog. Previously, he was a Fellow and Tutor in law at Balliol College, and CUF Lecturer for the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford (2008-2011) where he taught public law and jurisprudence; a Research Fellow at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, Oxford (2008-2010); and a Research Fellow and Tutor in public law at Keble College, Oxford (2007-08). Prior to that he was an attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York City (2003-04). His book Judging Social Rights (CUP 2012) won the 2014 SLS Peter Birks Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship.

Photo credit: Du Bin (杜斌)