Explain the meaning and concept of transparency and rule of law.

 The rule of law is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as “the authority and influence of law in society, especially when viewed as a constraint on individual and institutional behavior; (hence) the principle whereby all members of a society (including those in government) are considered equally subject to publicly disclosed legal codes and processes.”

Good governance requires impartial legal structures that are prescribed neutrally. It also requires full defence of human rights, particularly those of minorities. Impartial enforcement of laws requires an independent judiciary and an impartial and incorruptible police force. 

Basically, the rule of law is termed as the institutional process of setting, interpreting and implementing laws and other regulations. It means that decisions taken by government must be founded in law and that private firms and individuals are protected from arbitrary decisions.

Reliability entails governance that is free from distortionary incentives through corruption, favouritism, patronage or capture by narrow private interest groups; guarantees property and personal rights; and achieves some sort of social stability. This offers a degree of reliability and predictability that is vital for firms and individuals to take good decisions.

Transparency in Governance: Transparency is broadly accepted as a major principle of good governance (World Bank (2000) the UNDP has perceived that transparency means “sharing information and acting in an open(1997).

Furthermore, transparency allows stakeholders to collect information that may be critical to uncovering abuses and defending their interests.

Transparent systems have flawless procedures for public decision-making and open channels of communication between stakeholders and officials, and make a wide range of information available UNDP (1997).

Transparency represents that decisions taken and their enforcement are done in a way that follows rules and regulations.

It also entails that information is easily available and directly accessible to those who will be affected by such decisions and their enforcement.

According to Tandon (2002), transparency means that the criteria, process and systems of decision-making are openly known to all in a public manner.

The declaration of Right To Information Act (2015) set the stage for the transparency in the functioning of the government and its various agencies.

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