Historically, the rule of law has not been one of the core or central preoccupations of economic analysis of the law, also known as law and economics (L&E). Born in the United States in the early 1960s, L&E is one of the most influential methods of legal analysis. 1 Using the economic assumption that individuals are rational maximisers, and applying price theory to the study the consequences of legal rules, 2 L&E textbooks focus on specific areas of the law, such as antitrust, torts, contracts and, more controversially, criminal law. 3 In the