The rule of law refers to the concept that people should be ruled by laws, not by arbitrary impulses on the part of their leaders. In a society that is ruled by the rule of law, a law states that an act is a criminal act, while in a society that is not ruled by the rule of law, a ruler can decide on one day that an action is criminal and on the next day that it is not criminal. This would be a dreadful society to live in.
There are some necessary corollaries to the rule of law. One is that the laws must be known to everyone. If there are secret laws, anyone could run afoul of them, and this would not be the rule of law. Imagine trying to play a game and not knowing what the rules were. Another is that laws must be prospective, so that a person who committed an act a year ago is not punished for it, having had no reason to think it was a criminal act. Still another necessity is that the law be applied equally to everyone, with people not getting off easily because they know a judge or are friendly with a king or because the accused is the king. Finally, the rule of law requires that the laws themselves be enacted in a way that is not arbitrary, in another words, in a democratic process that is meant to enhance the society, not arbitrary law-making that is meant to advance the interests of one or the few.
The fact that a society has laws does not mean it is operating under the rule of law. It is in these corollaries that the operation of the rule of law exists and succeeds.
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