The use of law as an instrument of state power, where officials make and enforce rules without themselves being bound by them. Often contrasted with the rule of law.
In more detail
Tamanaha distinguishes rule by law, in which law is a tool of government, from rule of law, which constrains government. Many theorists hold that rule by law is not a version of the rule of law, since the rulers stay above the law; others treat it as the thinnest end of a continuum. Governments can use statutes and courts to repress opponents while keeping legal form.