transnational public actors as well as hybrid and private actors with great power over state authorities as well as private citizens. 32. The rule of law requires both individuals and governments to be subject to known and accessible laws. In turn this affirms the principle of equality before the law and fundamental guarantees such as the presumption of innocence. 33. Laws ought not to be too easily changeable. Stable laws are a prerequisite of the certainty and confidence which form an essential part of individual freedom and security. 34. Separation of powers between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government is at the heart of the rule of law. Law, the executive administration and prerogative decree are distinct. A failure to maintain the formal differences between these leads to a concept of law as nothing more than authorisation for power, rather than the guarantee of liberty, equally to all. 35. The rule of law can be summarised as:          Law must be made in a clearly defined and public way; The law must be accessible and so far as possible intelligible, clear and predictable; Questions of legal right and liability should ordinarily be resolved by application of the law and not the exercise of discretion; The laws of the land should apply equally to all, save to the extent that objective differences justify differentiation; The law must afford adequate protection of fundamental human rights;38 Means must be provided for resolving, without prohibitive cost or inordinate delay, bona fide civil disputes which the parties themselves are unable to resolve; Ministers and public officers at all levels must exercise the powers conferred on them reasonably, in good faith, for the purpose for which the powers were conferred and without exceeding the limits of such powers; Adjudicative procedures provided by the State should be fair; and The State must comply with its obligations in international law, the law which whether deriving from treaty or international custom and practice governs the conduct of nations. The Right to an Effective Remedy 36. To be meaningful, human rights have at their core, the right to an effective remedy for a violation of human rights standards.39 This obligation is found in a 38 Not all human rights may be essential components of the rule of law, but all the human rights identified in this Manual are inherent to the rule of law. 39 Special Rapporteur on the Question of Impunity, Principles for the protection and promotion of human rights through action to combat impunity, UN Doc.E/CN.4/Sub.2/1997/20/Rev.1. October 1997, Principle 33. UN Doc.E/CN.15/1997/16, Use and application of the Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power, note by the Secretary-General. See also European Convention on the Compensation of Victims of Violent Crimes, entered into force Feb 1988; 28