Preprint Ethical Value of the Law Ethical Value of the Law
The court's authority - neither dominated by money nor sword - rests fundamentally on public confidence in its moral sanctions. - Felix Frankfurter
It is an essential backstop in persuading officials and citizens to avoid corrupt behaviour. It reinforces ethical standards for the good and provides some potentially strong reasons for those who are not (although the strength of those reasons is limited by the perceived likelihood of detection).
However, the main game it is elsewhere. Law actually has a role to play in that 'main game' by creating institutional structures, setting out the powers of public officials, and monitoring the exercise of those powers under judicial review.
In best practice regimes, law already does these things. However, there are a number of ways of moving beyond best practice. Most of them ensure that the law is 'in synch' with ethical standards and institutional reform so that the three really do operate as a 'trinity' rather than as disparate, uncoordinated, and potentially conflicting integrity measures.
It depends on the country. There are some countries that are very corrupt, and even the judiciary system got involved in bad behavior. Judges are human beings, easily exposed to corruption. They must remain honest and endure tasks without the compensation for a forge sentence produced by them in favor of somebody who paid for it. In such countries the judiciary system is not reliable. However, the ideal is to have an honest, eficient judiciary system as stated since Plato (400 bC).
You have confidence in the judicial system if there are independent, well established judicial system, and not under the influence of the policial power.
Dear Artur, very good question. I believe that the existence of an independent and effective judicial system is what really defines a modern democracy, together with a stable legal system. Judicial independence is what determines that all citizens regardless of their status and economic power are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. Regarding the existence of a system of stable laws, it is very important in order to grant citizens and companies legal stability and a legal framework so that they can develop their businesses and invest their savings.
Now, answering "the bottom" of your question, in my opinion, there are few countries that achieve it because the judicial system in many countries acts under political and economic pressure.
Greetings from your brother country.
PM
An independent and impartial judiciary is extremely helpful in most societies. However, Adam Breckenridge, one of my professors and eventually the university's Chancellor, suggested that neither law enforcement nor the judiciary alone will work well without most of the people obeying most of the laws most of the time.
The social role of the judiciary system is to work against human entropy of all kinds, i.e. maintaining a social order. The Bible puts this social function as a prior human commandment of all Noahide law.
We believe in the judiciary if the judiciary is independent and political authority does not interfere.
The judiciary has always been the last hope of the common man. But, in a society where the ruling class has no regards for court orders and the rule of law, that confidence seems elusive.
I agree with the sentence of F. Frankfurter in principle - with the remark that reality often does not follow the principle, but the opposite happens, pretending that reality is committed to this principle (which is not true).
This applied not only to the jurisdiction of the dictatorships of socialism and fascism but also to the rulings of the US Supreme Court when it comes to civil rights and equal rights for African Americans. Starting with the 1857 ruling, which said: blacks can never become citizens of the United States because they are inferior and have no rights in the constitution.
1896 that evil law that allows racial segregation - on condition that "comparable" facilities for African Americans are available (which was not the case anywhere, but the communes relied on the law). This played a role in school segregation in US-Staates in the South, but also in much other concern of daily life from hotel stay to cultural offers.
The juridic 1896- truth "separate but equal" was repealed -1954 again in a famous/notorious verdict - but the white population of the southern states still wanted the separation of schools, and it endured decades until things normalized.
The electoral laws of 5 US states of the South, which discriminated against blacks and the poor because an electoral tax was levied, were not lifted by the Supreme Court until 1964; the ban of "racial" intermarriage only in 1967 finished. The Supreme Court did not ban the execution of a mentally handicapped person until 2002.
If one considers this a reality of the highest US jurisdiction, then the above quoted sentence of F. Frankfurter is pure mockery: The court's authority - neither dominated by money nor sword - rests fundamentally on public confidence in its moral sanctions. - Much astonished but we have to state: what an inhumanit!
The judiciary is very important in the democratic system to safegaurd and uphold citizenship rights and put a leash on the totalitarianism of the pilitical and beauratic classes, which exceed their brief. We constantly see the evidence of this in South Asia where the legislative classes continually try to bring in legislations that their subserve their purpose and covertly and gradually deminish the rights of citizens . If nothing judiciary remains the last hopefor the preservation of fundamental rights
Yes, I believe in the judiciary system, though imperfect at times it is an essential function of democratic society. The judiciary like government itself is based on the social contract and is contingent on the general support of the people. In the words of Judge Learned Hand " Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it; no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it". With regard to stability of law the courts provide this through stare decisis and by resolving conflict among the lower courts.
It depends on the country. There are some countries that are very corrupt, and even the judiciary system got involved in bad behavior. Judges are human beings, easily exposed to corruption. They must remain honest and endure tasks without the compensation for a forge sentence produced by them in favor of somebody who paid for it. In such countries the judiciary system is not reliable. However, the ideal is to have an honest, eficient judiciary system as stated since Plato (400 bC).
I believe in the ideals of the judiciary even though I don't believe in the judiciary that prevails in most states. This is owing to the fact that we are trapped between the Rule of Law and the Rule by Law. In most instances and in many countries, those who are powerful and actually corrupt are not dealt with fairly by the judiciary. Only the most vulnerable feel the impact of the judiciary because they don't have the means to ensure that the get justice. More often than not, members of the judiciary tend to have a corrupt relationship with the Elite since they are also regarded as the Elite. If the judiciary could advance justice and fairness, then maybe we could hold the judiciary in high esteem. But for now, it is all about wielding power against the helpless and the most vulnerable.
Dear Arthur, this is a survey question, and I do have public opinion data from Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia that could help empirically answer that question. If you are interested in joining forces, we could try to appropriately respond your question (of the sort: What affect people's trust in the judiciary?) at least in my neck of the wood. Best!
The present judiciary system require BASIC CHANGE.
Application of technology like truth injection, hypnotism (!), brain mapping etc. for detection of truth SHOULD be MUST in place of vocal competition of lawyers.
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