Just a few thoughts....
The strength of a society lies in several elements namely a good
government, pro-active citizens and strong unbiased upholder of the
law.
I just want to touch on the topic of the ¡°strong unbiased upholder
of the law¡± because I am just not interested in the other two
. In ¡°strong unbiased upholder of
the law¡±, I refer more specifically to the Judiciary. As a society
gets more sophisticated, law is often used as a means to protect
oneself so the strength of one¡¯s protection lies in the strength
of the Judiciary in consistently interpreting statutes and applying
the rule of law.
So, we look to the Courts where law is interpreted. Judges sitting
in the Courts should take pride in the fact that they are able to
view the turn of events put forth by legal representatives with an
unbiased and non-prejudicial manner. A good Judge cannot be having
pre-conceived notions about a party just because ¡°I like his
countenance not¡±. Justice is blind is something one is familiar
yet often misquoted.
To be a good arbiter, that Judge should always reason why he/she
came to a decision or the verdict. One can learn more about a Judge
from the judgments that he/she passed. The strength in the
application of reason and logic in the interpretation of statutes
and case law differentiates the good and the bad arbiters. A good
Judge never blabbers his/her verdict without properly justifying
his/her reasons for doing so.
A good Judge would also learn to discard frivolous claims made by
parties. The Judiciary is not a place where frivolous claims are
brought for the purposes of smearing and slandering. Of course,
very often such cases are even thrown out before it even has the
chance to reach the ears of a Judge. But the point remains that
frivolity has no place in the Judiciary.
A however thorny issue remains as to the constitution of a Judge.
Would a white Judge be in favour of a white claimant more than the
black defendant? What does an upper class Judge know about the
feelings of a lower-class complainant. What if the defendant is an
acquaintance of that Judge? Such conflict of interests can be
resolved by simply removing that Judge but it however places a
doubt on that Judge¡¯s integrity.
To thread the path of a good Judge is demanding and sometimes
lonely. You seek no favour and you should owe no allegiance to no
one save for your oath to serve the Judiciary honourably. These are
just the few issues that one has to consider when assessing the
credibility of the Court and the Judiciary. A good Judge should
never allow his/her Court to be made a mockery out of it.
Cheerio to the Judiciary.
