Samenvatting

Nowadays, the Rule of Law is seen as more and more important for international relations. The concept of the Rule of Law means that ordinary citizens and those who govern should obey the law. It means that the society is ruled by law and not by men. Several main principles are identified, namely government powers should be defined by law, the law should be applied equally, law and order should be established, justice should be efficient and predictable, and finally, human rights should be protected. General threats to the Rule of Law are corruption, politicisation and selective enforcement of law and the non-implementation of judicial decisions. On the basis of these principles and threats, it is possible to compare the Rule of Law with Russia’s Dictatorship of Law. The main question dealt with in this research paper is ‘What are the major differences between the concept of the Rule of Law and the ‘Dictatorship of Law’ which exists in Russia?’
In Russia, there is a weak Rule of Law, which is caused by several obstacles in the Russian political and judicial system. Examples of these obstacles are bureaucratic rule making, the legal reforms as a result from terrorist attacks and the improvement of national security, inequality before law, and the presence of corruption. Furthermore, legal nihilism is an issue, the social value of law and general norms and values are denied.
During Putin’s electoral campaign of 2000 the concept of the Dictatorship of Law was introduced as a result from the excessive legal nihilism during Yeltsin’s era. The Dictatorship of Law heavily contradicts the idea of the Rule of Law. Within the Dictatorship of Law, arbitrary rule dominates; decisions or judgements are not made on a reasonable basis. One of the main characteristics of the Dictatorship of Law is that the law is not equally binding to the state and its citizens, the law may be used in order to punish opponents of the state. It is important that the State’s interests are promoted by law. The vertical power, the containment of the power of oligarchs, also belongs to the Dictatorship of Law. The Dictatorship of Law fits into the concept of Sovereign Democracy, which is a managed democracy.
Several main findings answer the main question, various major differences between the Rule of Law and the Dictatorship of Law can be identified. Firstly, within the Rule of Law, government powers should be defined by fundamental law, while within the Dictatorship of Law government powers are vaguely defined in order to serve the State’s interests. Secondly, the equality before law is very important within the Rule of Law. The arbitrary rule within the Dictatorship of Law causes inequality before law. Thirdly, law and order should be established. Within the Rule of Law this means that crime should be effectively controlled and civil conflicts are limited. However, within the Dictatorship of Law, there is a lot of political and judicial interference because of the presence of corruption. Fourthly, within the Rule of Law, justice should be efficient and predictable. However, because of the presence of corruption within the Dictatorship of Law an efficient and predictable justice cannot be guaranteed. Fifthly, within the Rule of Law human rights should be protected. Within the Dictatorship of Law, the State interests are superior to the human rights, and Russia even has exempted itself from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). If the judgements of the ECHR do not correspond with the Russian Court rulings, they will not be followed and implemented.