The Center was established in Summer 2008. It is headed by Folke Schuppert, Wolfgang Merkel, Michael Zürn (all WZB) and Georg Nolte (Humboldt-Universität, Berlin).

The WZB Rule of Law Center seeks to promote research about the function and meaning of rule of law- based standards, norms and control mechanisms in the light of changing organisational as well as operational patterns at the global, regional, national as well as subnational levels. In other words, the intention is neither to make yet another contribution to the already well-researched evolution of the concept of the rule of law nor to address the question of its ideal normative content, it is the study of the development and diffusion of a practice. In the course of research, the leitmotiv will be the concept of the “rule of law” not the “Rechtsstaat”. The term “Rechtsstaat” has close historical links to specific issues of German constitutional law and it appears to be associated with particular constitutional institutions. The concept of rule of law, on the other hand, is broader in so far as it is, firstly, applied worldwide without regard to specific national constitutional settings and, secondly, not linked in any specified way to the concepts of human rights or democracy. At the same time, however, “rule of law” is more focussed than “Rechtsstaat” in so far as it emphasizes the pervasive predominance of law by its continuous obligatory force and review of authoritative decision-making.

Go to the > Rule of Law Center Research Program