The Rule of Law in Jamaica: A Study on how the Efforts of Civil Society may serve to strengthen the Rule of Law in Jamaica

Abstract: In this essay we discuss the importance of the rule of law for upholding fundamental rights within the liberal democratic state formation. The case in point is that of the Jamaica state and its longstanding record of arbitrary human rights practices. Under the rule of law all parts of the state apparatus is subject to the principals of legality and accountability, this entails testing the legality of suspected arbitrary practices and holding agents accountable in accordance with the law. However, the Jamaican states inability or unwillingness to live up to these principals suggests certain malfunctions in the institutions that uphold the rule of Law. In this light, the aim of the thesis is to explore how the efforts of civil society may serve to affect the rule of law by bolstering certain features of its composite elements. This is done by analyzing civil society's role in improving state practices by means of its constituent functions. Specifically, the analysis looks at how civil society may use various mechanisms of societal accountability. This type of accountability lacks the legal power to sanction state actions but may none the less be of pivotal importance for pressuring the state into reevaluating arbitrary practices that threaten to infringe upon the rights of the citizenry