Rule of Law Reform and Development

TLDR

The book examines the relationship between the rule of law and development, critiquing the view that it is a universal cure and mapping progress in areas such as the judiciary, police, tax administration, and access to justice. The authors argue that the rule of law is essential to development and propose procedural values to guide institutional reforms. They find that states struggle to implement institutional reforms, identify key obstacles, and recommend a new approach to law reform while outlining the international community’s role.

Abstract

This important book addresses a number of key issues regarding the relationship between the rule of law and development. It presents a deep and insightful inquiry into the current orthodoxy that the rule of law is the panacea for the world’s problems. The authors chart the precarious progress of law reforms both in overall terms and in specific policy areas such as the judiciary, the police, tax administration and access to justice, among others. They accept that the rule of law is necessarily tied to the success of development, although they propose a set of procedural values to enlighten this institutional approach. The authors also recognize that states face difficulties in implementing this institutional structures and identify the probable impediments, before proposing a rethink of law reform strategies and offering some conclusions about the role of the international community in the rule of law reform.