Translating the idea of “prééminence du droit”: divergent origins and homogeneous evolutions of État de droit, Rechtsstaatlichkeit, Stato di diritto and Rule of law?

Abstract

The article analyses the different constitutional and national background of the ideas of État de droit, Rechtsstaatlichkeit, Stato di diritto and Rule of law, to verify how much such concepts can be reciprocally translated. Such ideas are indeed linked by a common purpose: the subjection of political power to law. However, a certain homogeneity in linguistic definitions stay together with a deep heterogeneity in the rules of application, especially looked in an historical perspective. Nevertheless, the European and international integration of the legal systems seems to realize a progressive standardization also in the field of the more general concepts of legal theory, like the rule of law, taking the legislators and the courts toward a “global legality”.