allied fields, such as security sector reform, transitional justice, human rights, and
sustainable development, we do not claim to treat them comprehensively. Furthermore,
we focus on national, rather than international “rule of law” (such as the operation of
treaty bodies), although we engage with links where appropriate.
4
Based on this literature, we find an emerging body of evidence that points to specific
linkages between the rule of law and development that can provide a foundation for
incorporating the rule of law into the post‐2015 development framework. We highlight
the range of principles, concepts and commitments that comprise the rule of law, along
with the variety of pathways that link the rule of law to development. Efforts to define
commitments, targets and indicators should sort through this range of pathways while
building on and strengthening the existing evidence base. We do not recommend any
particular concept or target in this overview, nor do we develop one single narrative.
Rather, we aim to clarify the range of different options and approaches. We also
emphasize the importance of embedding targets and indicators deeply in local contexts,
and prioritizing national and local perspectives through a problem‐solving approach.
We are mindful in drafting this overview of the need for humility and care, and we do so
based on lessons learned from the MDG process. As the UN Task Team on the post‐2015
agenda states: “Several of the goals and targets related to the global partnership for
development were defined rather imprecisely, thereby weakening accountability for the
promised international support for the implementation of the MDG framework. Many of
the commitments made by the international community have remained unfulfilled.”5
Our approach is to avoid prescriptivism and rather to try and frame current discussions
and offer some guidance on potential ways forward after 2015.
This overview thus aims to help structure discussions by (1) clarifying the relationship
between the rule of law and development; (2) summarizing the lessons of rule of law
development efforts and the experience of the MDGs; and (3) pointing to options for
how the rule of law might be incorporated into the post‐2015 development agenda.
What Is the Rule of Law?
At its core, the rule of law is a means of ordering society – including the state‐citizen
relationship. It includes systems of rules and regulations, the norms that infuse them,
and the means of adjudicating and enforcing them. While older policy conceptions of the
rule of law in development emphasized security and property rights, a broader
understanding opens up space for new thinking about the rule of law in the context of
the post‐2015 agenda.
The substance of values, rules and their application vary deeply across cultures and
contexts, and evolve in response to political and social forces including development and
globalization. Some of the elements that infuse the concept include:
Concepts from political philosophy with a multiplicity of definitions including: a
system of rules (sometimes “rule by law”); norms such as equality before the
law; just process, just outcomes; and equal access.
International human rights norms. The rule of law can be infused with human
rights norms; for the U.N. and many development agencies, the rule of law is
inherently consistent with international human rights standards.