The rule of law and the rule of man

It's a generally accepted principle of our political system that it is better to be ruled by the law than by the capriciousness of man. It's one of the things that so angers about the lax drafting of so many of our new laws, that they give such discretion to those in power as to whether to enforce them upon a particular person or activity.

Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez, has halted the construction of a shopping mall in the capital and announced that the prime block of urban real estate should be expropriated after being shocked at the "monster" development.

In his Sunday address Chávez said he was heading through downtown Caracas when he was shocked by the sight of a huge, nearly-finished mall amid the high-rise offices and apartments. "They had already built a monster there," Chávez said. "I passed by there just recently and said, 'What is this? My God!'"

He ordered the local mayor to halt construction, and suggested the sprawling six-storey building might be put to better use as a hospital or university. The new Sambil mall was scheduled to open in the La Candelaria district early next year, packed with 273 shops, cinemas and offices. Chávez complained that it would add more traffic to an area that was already so crowded "not a soul fits".

"Stop it, Mr Mayor," Chávez said during his weekly broadcast on Sunday. "And we're going to review all of it. And we're going to expropriate that and turn it into a hospital - I don't know - a school, a university."

Clearly, Chavez believes more in hte rule by the capriciousness of man than in rule by the law.

This does not bode well for Venezuela.