The geographical and thematic coverage of RoLMM

With regard to its geographical coverage, RoLMM is primarily concerned with upholding the rule of law in the Republic of Cyprus.  However, in view of the geopolitical location of this sovereign state at the inter-section of the United Nations, the Commonwealth, the Council of Europe and the European Union, coupled with the background of UCLan Cyprus, RoLMM cannot overlook the impact of developments elsewhere in the European Union, in the United Kingdom or in the wider world.  Indeed, bearing in mind the global reach of certain crises, such as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, RoLMM is determined to avoid adopting an insular outlook.

As for its thematic coverage, RoLMM revolves around the operation of the rule of law in the Republic of Cyprus, particularly on the eve, in the midst or in the aftermath of any grave crisis, including the pandemic.  In this context and given its pre-occupation with time of crisis, RoLMM seeks to explore each of the six fundamental questions articulated below. Question 1: Is the rule of law safe or unsafe? Question 2: To what extent are public bodies, private bodies and individual people upholding or undermining the rule of law? Question 3: What is the proper role of judges, lawyers, legal academics and law students?  What is the proper function of each in a democratic society, particularly one that is in the midst of a crisis? In this context, how can citizens be further empowered, particularly in times of crisis, to ensure the sustainability of rights? Question 4: How may lawyers fulfil their ethical, professional, legal and other duties, while simultaneously protecting their physical health, mental health and overall wellbeing? Question 5: How, when and by which means may justice be delivered in response of any injustices allegedly caused by or during a crisis? Question 6: Can any salient lessons be drawn from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and any other past or ongoing crises?

The rule of law: four premises

A word or two is needed on the rule of law, the concept at the heart of RoLMM.  The rule of law is, of course, open to interpretation and, indeed, criticism.  That being said, for the sake of coherence and simplicity, RoLMM rests on four intellectual premises.

The first premise is that ‘the core’ of the rule of law is the one defined by the late Lord Bingham of Cornhill, during his tenure as Senior Law Lord, in his celebrated lecture entitled ‘The Rule of Law’, as delivered on 16 November 2006. According to the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission), an organ of the Council of Europe, the definition provided by Lord Bingham ‘[p]erhaps … covers most appropriately the essential elements of the rule of law.’[8]

How, then, did Lord Bingham define the rule of law?  In his considered view, its ‘core’ is that ‘all persons and authorities within the state, whether public or private, should be bound by and entitled to the benefit of laws publicly and prospectively promulgated and publicly administered in the courts.’[9]

The second premise is that Lord Bingham was right to suggest that the rule of law ‘may be conveniently broken down into a series of sub-rules’. He articulated eight such ‘sub-rules’. These were helpfully summarised as follows on 9 September 2013 by Dominic Grieve QC MP, the then Attorney General of England and Wales:

1. The law must be accessible, intelligible, clear and predictable.
2. Questions of legal right and liability should ordinarily be resolved by the exercise of the law and not the exercise of discretion.
3. Laws should apply equally to all.
4. Ministers and public officials must exercise the powers conferred in good faith, fairly, for the purposes for which they were conferred – reasonably and without exceeding the limits of such powers.
5. The law must afford adequate protection of fundamental Human Rights.
6. The state must provide a way of resolving disputes which the parties cannot themselves resolve.
7. The adjudicative procedures provided by the state should be fair.
8. The rule of law requires compliance by the state with its obligations in international as well as national laws.[10]

The third premise is that in a democratic sovereign state, particularly one that belongs to the European Union and is subject to a codified ‘written constitution’, such as the Republic of Cyprus, the eight ‘sub-rules’ identified by Lord Bingham are supplemented by various other concepts.  These include constitutionalism, proportionality, good governance, transparency and, of course, democracy.  Each of these concepts is implicit in the list provided above, but none is expressly spelt out therein.

The fourth premise is that the rule of law lies at the core of four of the key supranational organisations to which Republic of Cyprus belongs: the United Nations; the Commonwealth; the Council of Europe; and the European Union.

Even though the rule of law is not expressly mentioned in the United Nations Charter of 1945,[11] the concept has long been championed by the United Nations – on paper if not always in practice.[12]  Furthermore, the rule of law is expressly mentioned by the Preamble to the European Convention on Human Rights of 1950[13] and by the Preambles as well as by the main bodies of the Commonwealth Charter of 2013[14] and the Treaty on European Union.[15]  Indeed, under Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, the Republic of Cyprus and its fellow members of the European Union affirm that:

The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail.

[8] Report on the Rule of Law adopted by the Venice Commission at its 86th plenary session (Venice Commission, Venice, 25-26 March 2011), paragraph 36, website of the Venice Commission, www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/default.aspx?pdffile=CDL-AD(2011)003rev-e [9] The Rt. Hon Lord Bingham of Cornhill KG, ‘The Rule of Law’, transcript of a lecture delivered in honour of Sir David Williams at the Centre for Public Law of the University of Cambridge on 16 November 2006, website of the Centre for Public Law, www.cpl.law.cam.ac.uk/sir-david-williams-lectures2006-rule-law/rule-law-text-transcript and www.cpl.law.cam.ac.uk/sir-david-williams-lectures/rt-hon-lord-bingham-cornhill-kg-rule-law (accessed on 3 April 2020). [10] The Rt. Hon. Dominic Grieve QC MP, HM Attorney General, ‘The rule of law and the prosecutor’, transcript of a lecture delivered on 9 September 2013, website of the Attorney General’s Office, www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-rule-of-law-and-the-prosecutor (accessed on 3 April 2020). [11] Charter of the United Nations of 1945, website of the United Nations, www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/un-charter-full-text/ (accessed on 8 April 2020). [12] See, for instance, Report of the Secretary-General on the rule of law and transitional justice in conflict and post-conflict societies (UN Security Council Document S/2004/616, 23 August 2004, website of the UN, www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/2004/616 and ‘United Nations and the Rule of Law’, United Nations website, www.un.org/ruleoflaw/un-and-the-rule-of-law/ (accessed on 8 April 2020). [13] Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms Rome, 4.XI.1950 as amended by Protocols Nos. 11 and 14 supplemented by Protocols Nos. 1, 4, 6, 7, 12, 13 and 16, website of the Council of Europe, www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Convention_ENG.pdf [14] The Commonwealth Charter Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs by Command of Her Majesty, March 2013, Cm 8572, website of the Government of the United Kingdom, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/136337/Cm_8572.pdf [15] Consolidated version of the Treaty on European Union, website of the European Union, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A12012M%2FTXT

Guidelines aimed at potential authors of articles and other contributions

If you wish to submit a blog piece, please ensure it complies with these Guidelines and send it as text to htsproject.uclancyprus.ac.cy

If your piece is intended for the RoLMM, please submit it to [email protected]

These Guidelines constitute an open call for blog pieces. There is no deadline to submit and no strict word limit; however, draft texts in the region of 1,500 to 2,000 words would be deemed the most appropriate.

In the light of the Mission of RoLMM, as outlined above, blog pieces should focus on topics of societal interest aimed at a wide non-expert audience. Accordingly, academics should avoid unnecessarily legalistic terminology or unduly theoretical concepts.  By the same token, lawyers and other professionals should avoid jargon.

A catchy title should be used.

No lengthy introduction is needed. Nor is there any need for any detailed literature review.  Authors are requested to go straight to the point and address the gist of the matter at hand. From the outset, each author should explain to readers why they should read the blog piece.  The style may be analytical and/or narrative depending on the subject matter. If possible, avoid endnotes and footnotes but use links instead (cmd + k).

The conclusion should summarise the main themes or findings. It is best to conclude with the articulation of some warnings to be borne in mind, lessons to be learned or recommendations.

Each author should provide brief details along the following lines: name, position, affiliation if any, professional status, if any, qualifications and a declaration of any actual or perceived interest.  The provision of a photograph will be welcome.

When submitting any draft text to RoLMM, every author must not only disclose any actual or perceived conflict of interest, but must also adhere to the other generally accepted principles of research ethics and integrity.  These principles are embodied inter alia in the publications of the UK Research Integrity Office, a registered charity dedicated to the promotion of these concepts.  Its publications include [The] Code of Practice for Research: Promoting Good Practice and Preventing Misconduct and [The] Recommended Checklist for Researchers; these are available at the hyperlinks below.

• UKRIO-Code-of-Practice-for-Research
• UKRIO-Recommended-Checklist-for-Researchers

A peer review process will take place within reasonable time.  It will be conducted by academics of the School of Law of UCLan Cyprus and, if necessary, external experts.  Such reviewers reserve the right to engage in editing if and when needed, in consultation with the author.

Blog pieces may be illustrated by images on the strict understanding that the express consent of the copyright holder is obtained in advance, an appropriate acknowledgment is provided and all relevant laws are adhered to.

Prospective authors are welcome to make use of Crown Copyright and Parliamentary Copyright materials from the United Kingdom in line with the relevant Licences. Details regarding the re-use of Crown Copyright materials under the Open Government Licence is available at the two links below.

• UK Government Licensing Framework
• Open Government Licence

Details regarding the re-use of Parliamentary Copyright materials under the Open Parliament Licence are available at the two links below.

• Parliamentary Copyright
• Open Parliament Licence

Cross-posting of blog pieces published by RoLMM is acceptable, subject to proper acknowledgment as to where each text was first published and subject also to the receipt of prior permission from RoLMM.

The UCLan Cyprus Law Blog is dedicated to freedom of expression within the law and, by extension, to academic freedom.  At the same time, the UCLan Cyprus Law Blog is an equal opportunity, non-discriminatory and non-hate speech forum. Content that does not meet its standards will be rejected.

Contacts and further information

To obtain further information or register to receive updates by email, please send an email with your request to htsproject.uclancyprus.ac.cy

If your query relates to the RoLMM, please send an email to [email protected]

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