- The principle that law is enforced equally to everyone, including the government
- The law is sovereign (highest legal authority)
- No one is above/outside the law
UK
Example: M v Home Office (1993, UKHL) established that even the Home Secretary can be held in contempt of court
The proper constitutional relationship of the executive with the courts is that the courts will respect all acts of the executive within its lawful province, and that the executive will respect all decisions of the courts as to what its lawful province is.
—Lord Justice Nolan (Court of Appeal)