THE BRITISH CONSTITUTION 23

law, the Ride of Law reinforces the Sovereignty of Parliament,
The Indemnity Act showed this plainly; here an illegal act had
been committed and many people were liable to be prosecuted;
the Law could remove the confusion by declaring that none of
them were to be prosecuted. But, to get such a Law passed, the
Government had to go to Parliament. This gave the Opposition
the chance to demand the full facts, to criticise the Government
publidy, and to secure that the Government, besides protecting
itself should at the same time set up a special tribunal to decide
what damages should be paid to the deportees for the
inconvenience and loss of reputation they had suffered. The
Rule of Law makes the Government subject to Parliament,
and, through Parliament, to the people.

The meaning of the Rule of Law can be understood by
considering what Government can be like without it. In France
before the Revolution the nobility could disregard the ordinary
law, and could punish and imprison their inferiors without
putting them through any form of trial. In Britain to-day the
law gives no such special privileges; everyone is subject to the
same law. This is the meaning of the phrase "equality before
the law." To-day in Germany the Govermdent has power to
imprison people without trial, or even people, such as Pastor
Niemoller, who have been acquitted. Hitler's expressed wishes
are, in fact, the law. Nearer home, the Home Minister of the
Government of Northern Ireland has the power to detain
suspected persons indefinitely without bringing them to trial.
Where the Rule of Law prevails, no one can suffer any penalty
or loss of liberty unless he has been tried and sentenced by a
court; a man may, of course, be kept in prison while awaiting
•trial, but the period for which he is kept will be short, and
defined by law.

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW.

;. It is possible to make exceptions to the Rule of Law without
setting up a tyranny like those described above* In France there