What does Justice Anthony Kennedy consider the first part of the rule of law?

Answer 1

US Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has a particular interest in the topic, "The Rule of Law," which he says has three parts. In his 2006 keynote address to the American Bar Association Assembly, Justice Kennedy proposed the following (excerpts):

"I suggest that the rule of law has three parts. The first is that the law is binding on the government and all of its officials. This may seem a rather self-evident matter, but it's a proposition that most government officials in most countries do not fully understand. If an administrative agency and an administrator in that agency is charged with giving you a permit, the permit is not given to you as a matter of grace; it's given to you because you are entitled to it and because it is his or her duty to give it to you. Very few countries in the world understand this. The rule of law binds the government and all of its officials. This is an essential lesson that must be taught, if the corruption and the greed and the graft President Greco referred to are eliminated.

"The second part of the rule of law is there for you on the little slip. It is, in a sense, I think, the most troubling for me. I am not sure that it's complete. It says that the rule of law must respect the dignity, equality and human rights of every person. And then there's a second sentence and the second sentence says that the people have a right to have a voice in the laws that govern them. So, there's a process element, but it isn't just process. Because the right to participate in government is nothing less than the right to shape your own destiny. And the framers of our Constitution made it very clear that each generation has a share, has a chance to determine its own destiny, to determine its own direction.

...

"My third suggestion (and it can only be a suggestion--it would be presumptuous to say I can define the rule of law), my third suggestion for you to think about surprised me when I wrote it. And it was this: that every person has the right to know what the laws are and to enforce them without fear of retaliation or retribution. This is almost a process-sounding precept, but it's again substantive, as well. It's part of your identity, it's part of your self-definition to know the laws that protect you, to know the laws that are respected by your neighbors and friends and family. This is part of who you are. And you're entitled to know this. And you're entitled to enforce them."

To read the entire speech in context, see Related Links, below.