Of Interactionality and Legal Universes: A Bottom-Up Approach to the Rule of Law in Armed Group Territory

Reviewing literature on rule of law, this article puts forward a ‘bottom-up’ approach of the rule of law that encourages an analysis of three aspects (i) the ability of the legal framework to confer the capacity of self-determination upon individuals (ii) the extent to which the legal framework is reciprocal/ interactional, in that it creates expectations between governing and governed and (iii) the contribution made by ordinary individuals in the form of participation with or contribution to communities of practice and law in everyday life. The paper then applies this framework to the law and rules in application in territory under the control of armed groups, considering individuals’ relationship with rules in these spaces and examining their different ways in which they may affect civilians’ lives.