The Rule of Law in the International Development Assistance

開発における包括的制度改革の重要性が認識されるに伴い,国際開発援助の分野でも「法の支配」の確立を目標とする法整備支援が重要性を増している.開発(援助)のコンテクストでは,法の支配はルールに対する尊重の態度から,ルールの形式化,形式的ルールの執行メカニズム,政府の権限行使のコントロール,法内容の規範的評価まで,開発の手段から目的に至る重層的意味をもつ.したがって,そのような法の支配の実現は,途上国の経済的・政治的・社会的な初期条件を踏まえ,かつ歴史的・文化的に形成された非形式的制度との関連性に配慮しながら,漸進的かつ段階的に行われる必要がある.また,その際には,法の支配は途上国の人民と政府自身による制度改革の努力によってその定着度が左右される動態的な性質のものであることも深く認識する必要がある.このような法の支配の本質理解は,各国で実践されている法の支配プロジェクトが,各国の特質に応じたテイラー・メイドのプログラムに基づき,その人民と政府の主体的関与を通じて,かつ包括的・長期的・統一的なプログラムに基づいて実践されているかどうかを検証するための基準となる.さらに,「良い政府」の一環でもある法の支配は,その別の側面である効率的な政策遂行と緊張関係に立つことから,両者を調整するために暫定的な次善策が選択されることもある.しかしまた,その妥当性に対しても,法の支配の観点からの不断の検証が不可欠かつ有益である.The rule of law has become much more significant than before in the international legal assistance as it has been widely recognized that the comprehensive institutional reform matters in development. In the context of development (assistance) the rule of law contains the respectfor rules, its formalization, an enforcement mechanism of the formalized rules, control of the governmental power and the normative evaluation of those rules. Those elements stratify fromthe bottom to the top of the whole structure of the rule of law and the meaning of the rule oflaw extends from an instrument to an end of the development. As a result, the process of therule-of-law projects in the developing countries must be promoted incrementally and step bystep by taking into consideration the initial conditions in the economy, political system and society and the informal rules which are historically and culturally developed in each country. Besides, it must be noted that the substance of the rule of law is influenced and dynamically formed by the efforts of the people and the government to introduce the rule-of-law mechanism. Thus the understanding of the rule of law in the context of development can be criteria to check whether the rule-of-law projects are implemented on the tailor-made program, through the initiatives by the people and the government of the developing country and based on the comprehensive, long-term and integrated program. The rule of law, as one of the aspects of the good government, may fall in the latent contradiction with another aspect of the good government such as the efficient policy-making and, as a result, the second best policy may be tentatively allowed to be adopted. However, it must be constantly and critically evaluated fromthe viewpoint of the rule of law