The rule of law: what does it really mean?

Magna Carta in 1215 most certainly reinforced the concept of the rule of law but it did not invent or establish it, as some claim. The barons were simply forcing a wayward King John to acknowledge and abide by a long held understanding of their rights, freedoms and liberties which he had denied and brutally abused.

It is important to note that the rule of law is a distinct but similar concept of governance from democracy which was evolving at around the same time in ancient Athenian Greece (use of the term being found in the political philosophy of Plato and Aristotle). Democracy, as Abraham Lincoln put it, is "government of the people, by the people, for the people".

Democracy was not established in our system by Magna Carta (as also claimed by many commentators) although it was relied upon by the barons about 50 years later to establish the first rudimentary, but short-lived, form of parliament outside the king's control.

Democracy came into the English system much later and over time with the gradual start-stop development of an independent parliament, representative government and the ultimate extension of the right to vote by every adult citizen.

Our constitutional system of governance, inherited from England, is a remarkable compact of democracy and the rule of law. It has been 'hammered out' over centuries of conflict between monarchs and their subjects. (Queen Anne in 1707 was the last monarch to assert royal authority by rejecting a parliamentary bill. Even George V in the 1930s, believed he had supreme power over parliament but never tried to use it.)

Every country has its head of state (or in some cases joint and collective heads of state). Their executive powers range from total despotic control to mere influence and symbolic importance. In Australia, our head of state, the Governor-General as the Queen's delegate, is restricted to a limited general executive and ceremonial role whilst having some very important but rarely needed to be used "reserve powers".

The rule of law nevertheless prevails, and it is essential in any move Australia may make from a constitutional monarchy to a republic that its function and purpose be ensured. For it is one thing to change, or retain, the head of state on independent or sentimental grounds and quite another to change a system of governance that works.