法治理想及其要求

The Ideal of the Rule of Law and its Requirements

法治是当今世界公认的一种重要政治价值。法治理想的要义是通过法律规范的途径来限制任意专断权力的运作。为达到这一目标,法律规范在形式上必须满足富勒提出的八项要求,并且必须确立法律的正当程序来保障法律规范得到适当的运用。我们可以把这两方面称作法治理想形式与程序方面的要求。法治理想的要义还有助于我们理解人们围绕法治的一些重要争论,如关于实质性法治观念的争论,关于立法性法律的争论等。

The rule of law is a widely accepted political value in today's world.The core idea of the rule of law lies in restricting the arbitrary and despotic power through the means of legal rules.In order to realize this aim,legal rules should fulfill eight desiderata set out by Fuller,and some proper legal procedures must be established to guarantee the proper application of the legal rules.We can call the above two things the formal and procedural requirements of the ideal of the rule of law respectively.The core idea of the rule of law can help us understand some key controversies about the rule of law,for example,the controversies concerning substantive conceptions of the rule of law and the status of legislation.