The Rule of e-law

One of the most cherished ideals in international debate in the field of law and legal theory is the rule of law. This concept has traditionally been associated with both democratic values and the legal maxim stating that no person is above the law. In other words, the rule of law involves that judicial, legislative and executive powers -and its officials and agents- must be accountable under the law, which must be clear, publicized, stable, fair, and must protect fundamental rights. In this paper the author sketched out some of the most crucial and strategic topics concerning the rule of law and its current transformations. Specifically, in the last years we have seen how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs, hereinafter) could help us improve the rule of law effectiveness. Internet and web 2.0 are changing both the way in which citizens exercise sovereignty and the manner to participate in public and civic affairs. In the first field, we will observe that new technologies are fragmenting physical and conceptual borders amongst states, and will study the impact of ICTs on the notion of national sovereignty, which is constantly changing. Secondly, the author describes how technology creates new spaces 2.0 in which citizens can have access to public information, participate and collaborate in civic life issues. To be precise ICTs ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration, not only by the way of control government, but also to give the people an opportunity to take part in the formation of law. A new paradigm of the manner to exercise sovereignty and participate in public affairs comes from Iceland. The Constitutional Council of Iceland has been working on the new constitution for a while and has been attracting some positive attention due to the openness and inclusiveness of its workings, and its use of ICTs to include the general public. We then will note how the public's participation takes up an important role in the work process to reform the Constitution of Iceland, which even allow people to leave their comments and suggestions both on the process and the content of the new constitution itself in the most popular social networks as Facebook, Twitter or YouTube. Finally, the author draws the principal's conclusions from an Iceland laboratory with regard to use of ICTs to improve citizen's empowerment by participating in the development of laws and deliberating a new Constitution.