Rechtsstaat

Rechtsstaat (German:; lit. "state of law"; "legal state") is a doctrine in continental European legal thinking, originating in Germanjurisprudence. It can also be translated as "rule-of-law state", "legal state", "state of justice", or "state based on justice and integrity". It means a state in which everyone, especially the government, is subject to the law.

A Rechtsstaat is a constitutional state in which the exercise of governmental power is based on and constrained by the law. It is closely related to "constitutionalism" which is often tied to the Anglo-American concept of the rule of law, but differs from it in also emphasizing what is just (i.e., a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity). Thus it is the opposite of Obrigkeitsstaat (German:) or Nichtrechtsstaat (a state based on the arbitrary use of power), and of Unrechtsstaat (a non-Rechtsstaat with the capacity to become one after a period of historical development).

In a Rechtsstaat, the power of the state is limited in order to protect citizens from the arbitrary exercise of authority. The citizens share legally based civil liberties and can use the courts. In continental European legal thinking, the Rechtsstaat is contrasted with both the police state and the État légal.