NEW YORK, SEPT. 26, 2012 (Zenit.org).- The Holy See joined its voice to debate this week at the 67th UN General Assembly on the rule of law, reminding the assembly that without an objective criteria as a basis and guide for legislative activity, the affirmation of the rule of law is reduced to a mere «rule of rules.»
This was the affirmation made by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the secretary for relations with states at the Vatican Secretariat of State, and the leader of the Holy See delegation at the UN meeting.
«Where there is a lack of objective criteria as a basis and guide for legislative activity, the affirmation of the rule of law is reduced to a sterile tautology, to a mere ‘rule of rules,'» the archbishop said, citing Benedict XVI’s speech at the Bundestag in September 2011. «And the creation of new laws, although produced by systems which may be described as democratic, may easily become an expression of the will of a few.»
«In order to avoid such perilous deviations, the rule of law must be based upon a unified and comprehensive vision of man, appreciative of the complexity and the richness how people relate to each other, and granting certainty and stability to juridical relationships created within communities by means of a broadly harmonic ensemble of rules and institutions,» he added.
The archbishop went on to speak about the philosophical «process where we ask ourselves about the meaning of human existence and of the universe and about what offers a true and solid basis to the rule of law, insofar as we are capable of grasping the existence of human nature which is prior and superior to all social theories and constructions, which the individual and communities must respect and must not manipulate at will.»
«Man,» he said, «is not merely self-creating freedom. Man does not create himself. He is intellect and will, but he is also nature, and his will is rightly ordered if he respects his nature, listens to it and accepts himself for who he is, as one who did not create himself. In this way, and in no other, is true human freedom fulfilled (ibid.), and it is only in this way that we can speak truly of the rule of law.»
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Full text: www.zenit.org/article-35602?l=english
