Rule of Law: A Comparative Analysis of India and Pakistan

The rule of law serves the joint aim of development processes of state-building and peace-building. It is the true basis of a democratic society; democracy will become an empty phrase without the rule of law, but it cannot exist without a fully independent judiciary and due regard for the judiciary by other two pillars of State, namely legislative and executive. This regard and Independence can be achieved through horizontal accountability, which is nothing but the capacity of the state organization to check the abuse of power by other state organizations. Basically, the cornerstone of the rule of law is the separation of powers between the state bodies. This paper will mainly focus on the role of the judiciary in the context rule of law; also, the paper will look into the facts that whether or not the governance in the exercise of its powers remain limited in regard to fundamental freedoms while comparing the situation of the rule of law in India and Pakistan. Same time the paper will analyze the impacts of a mere theoretical form of the rule of law on one side to its adherence on the other. Also, the paper will reflect how accessible is civil justice to people and the status of representative governments in the two countries.