Constitutional liberalism, and with it the commitment to individual rights, equality, and democracy which it entails, is under a period of sustained pressure. Voters around the world have increasingly elected governments, which do not adhere to the liberal constraints of their constitutions, and which not only routinely violate fundamental rights and freedoms, but also campaign on platforms promising to do so. As the rule of law and the protection of fundamental rights are preconditions of a stable democracy, these developments also call the project of democracy into question. Thus, it does not seem to be an overstatement to suggest that liberal states are at a crossroads. Is the rule of law worth fighting for?
This conference sets out to allow for interdisciplinary consideration of this question in three parts. Part one will focus on conceptualisation of the rule of law. Part two will allow for an analysis of degrees of the destruction of the rule of law: erosion of principles of the rule of law, adaptation to other forms of government and even lawlessness. In part three, attention will turn to responses to these challenges. Of importance here is not just how the rule of law is to be protected (or reestablished) but also whether under certain circumstances it might be permissible or perhaps even necessary to formally encroach upon the rule of law in order to uphold it.