Laws are just words on paper. They are irrelevant without people to follow and enforce them.
It is very common for Constitutional laws to be suspended in the event of war. Even without suspension, all it takes is a leader with enough support to ignore the law.
I mean, that's really true of any sort of law or political arrangement. They can all be broken or ignored. To mangle a quote, the law isn't power - power is power.
'True rule of law' in that sense is impossible unless there is some superior authority that can physically prevent legislators/judiciary/executive from writing, or attempting to enforce, contradictory or unenforceable laws.
Which of course is a paradox as the superior authority cannot be bound by written laws in order to do this.
This is a good point. I should have said, in the absence of law, there is only power through individual domination and vassalage. Law does not guarantee a more equitable distribution of power but it can allow for it.
It is very common for Constitutional laws to be suspended in the event of war. Even without suspension, all it takes is a leader with enough support to ignore the law.
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