This volume considers the problem of legal universals at the level of the rule of law and human rights, which have fundamentally different pedigrees, and attempts to come to terms with the new unease arising from the universal application of human rights. Given the juridicization of human rights, rule of law and human rights expectations have become significantly intertwined: human rights are enforced with the instruments of the rule of law and are thus limited by the restricted reach thereof.
The first section of this volume considers the difficulties of universalistic claims and offers a...

Traditional separation of powers theories assumed that governmental despotism will be prevented by dividing the branches of government which will check one another. Modern governments function with unexpected complicity among these branches. Sometimes one of the branches becomes overwhelming.
Other governmental structures, however, tend to mitigate these tendencies to domination. Among other structures courts have achieved considerable autonomy "vis--vis the traditional political branches of power. They tend to maintain considerable distance from political parties in the name of...