This Essay engages the idea of the rule of law and its relationship to the human rights ideal. This piece opens by exploring just exactly what is meant by the rule of law. To develop this analysis, this work initially explores the definitions, elements, and theoretical underpinnings of the rule of law. Second, it delves into the cultural particularities of the rule of law; third, it describes numerous structural realities of the rule of law; and then, it sets out several of the critiques directed at a universal rule of law idea.

This essay next makes three key observations concerning the rule of law: (1) the relationship between the rule of law and human rights; (2) the interrelatedness of the international rule of law to a local rule of law; and (3) the insights the concept of the rule of law affords to the exploration of the nexus between trade and human rights.

To conclude, this piece suggests a holistic approach to the rule of law. Such a model recognizes both the instrumental or rule book dimension and the substantive or rights dimension of the rule of law. It also accepts that the rule of law, while universal in its conceptualization, must accommodate cultural particularities of different societies. Moreover, this model acknowledges that local and global versions of the rule of law operate coherently in these different geographies, and that both local and global rule of law discourses are bounded by human rights parameters of full personhood, dignity, and justice.