“The right use of Laws and right order in society protect us from crime and encourage the grace of salvation, those in authority must use their authority wisely” – Explain & Illustrate. (2000 words)
1. INTRODUCTION:
To run the society peacefully, the right use of law is very much essential. The truth is that the law is not implicated to create fear or scare society’s individuals; it is in place as a basis for society. Our society uses the law and law enforcement as the primary building blocks on which it is built upon. Without the law in place we would have no structure. The right use of law regulates protocol at various places of society. Like Anatole France said, “The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.”[1]Kafka think that “The great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order.”[2] In other words, it is impossible, if not immensely challenging to use authority wisely while allowing for personal freedom, whether it is freedom of speech, expression, press or freedom in any other form. Socrates point out that, “Law is the correct judgment of the state.”[3] Law[4] is the controlling influence of rules; the condition of society brought about by their observance. It is a system or collection of rules. However, all around us we see painful examples of misuse of law and order by those in authority. This is not a phenomenon unique to today’s world; instead, this situation has existed all throughout history. Laws may be meant for good, but those in authority have always abused their power, influence and jurisprudence.
This essay would examine two parts, firstly, by explaining how the right use of law protect us from crime and encourage the grace of salvation and secondly, the bodies related with the implementation of right law must use their right wisely. The essay paper is based on inferior sources of information, like books, newspapers, research reports and journals. Other important literature has also been unruffled through Internet browsing.
2. PART A: the right use of law protect us from crime and encourage the grace of salvation
The right use of law does not have a precise definition, and its meaning can vary between different nations and legal traditions. Generally, however, it can be understood as a legal-political regime under which the law restrains the government by promoting certain liberties and creating order and predictability regarding how a country functions. In the most basic sense, the right use of law is a system that attempts to protect the rights of citizens from arbitrary and abusive use of government power. [5] Proclaiming the immense spirit of the Right use of Law prominent chief justice Lord Coke once asserted:”The King himself ought not to be subject to man, but subject to God and the law, because the law makes him King”;[6] The right use of law also implies that the functions of the government in a free society should be so exercised as to create conditions in which the dignity of man as an individual is upheld. This dignity requires not only the recognition of certain civil or political rights but also creation of certain political, social, economical, educational and cultural conditions which are essential to the full development of his personality.[7]
2.1 How right uses of law protect us from crime
Laws and justice systems all over the world are based upon the stern pillars of the right order in society of law. It acts as a guideline for the government to enact legislation and establishes procedures and regulations which are based on the concept of equality and equal treatment before the eyes of law. The right order of law propounds equal treatment before the law irrespective of caste, creed, sex, color, background, and religion, social, political and economic status.[8] But this principle may be threatened. And there will be an attempt to assess and identify the core of those issues which are fundamental having the likelihood of causing potential threat to the concept of the right order in society of law in a particular State. Right order will gain respect for Law and thus, people will fear about the consequences of committing crime in the society.
There is much evidence regarding the misuse of laws and order in society, which dragged citizens towards crime. If we think about the Bangladesh context we can recall the incident of 1969’s mass uprising[9] in Bangladesh, we can find that the misuse and wrong use of law by the then Pakistani ruler Ayub Khan[10] caused anarchy among the nation of East Pakistan. Because of significant shortcomings in using laws and order compelled people to break the rule. Even the people of East Pakistan made down the ruler’s power. Again, we can think about the recent situation of Bangladesh, which is regarded as one of the most corrupted country in the world according to Transparency International[11]. Not only in Bangladesh, all over the world wherever law and order is misused, turns the country to crime rate. Likewise, the present situation of Pakistan shows the truths that wrong use of power and order is increasing crime and anarchy. Everyday many crimes, murdering are happening in Pakistan[12]. It has become one of the most risky countries in the world.
These examples of abuse towards humanity are knowledgeable deviances and even beyond, but as Hitler and the Nazi’s thought, the dependents believed their actions were as justified as any good deed. For example, documents were obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union under the Freedom of Information Act about the alleged accusations of abuse towards the Iraqi prisoners from various military sources.
2.2 How right use of laws encourages the grace of salvation?
Grace of salvation’ is a religious term. In Bible it is used in order to mean that mankind is saved by the grace of god. “God blessed the sinners with grace or undeserved mercy for salvation”[13]. To understand the term ‘grace of salvation’ properly, it is needed to understand the meaning of ‘grace’ and ‘salvation’.
2.2.1 Meaning of Salvation:
The word ‘Salvation’ means being saved; deliverance from sin and damnation[14]; deliverance from all sin and all its consequence[15]. “In religion, salvation is the concept that God or other Higher Power, as part of Divine Providence, saves humanity from spiritual death or Eternal Damnation by providing for them an eternal life (cf. afterlife)”[16]. In legal system, the meaning of salvation becomes ‘saving the society from crime’.
2.2.2 Definition of Grace:
Grace means courteous goodwill; unmerited favor of god [17].In Christian religion grace is something undeserved favor for the sinner from the God. Bible says that Jesus Christ was the divine grace for the salvation of human race[18]. If the word ‘grace’ is used in legal system, it will mean ‘favor of law to the society’ or ‘desire to do good for the society’. From the meaning of the two word ‘grace’ and ‘salvation’ we find the meaning of ‘grace of salvation’ is desire to save humankind or society from crime and evil. Law does this ‘grace of salvation’ to the society. If the right use is ensured, law encourages the grace of salvation to the society.
Law is a system of rules that allows our society to function[19]. The main purpose of law is to ensure the right order and peace to the society and to protect the society from crime. “Without law, life would be poor, nasty, brutish and short. Law gives us the framework for interaction” [20].If the right use of law is established in the society, law will create a balance in the society and will treat every member of the society equally. The fear of the punishment will also discourage people to do any kind of wrong doings and thus harmony will be established in the society.
3. PART B: the bodies related with the implementation of right law must use their AUTHORIY wisely
Authority is important because without it there would be chaos and conflicts between social groups, society, construction, etc but it is pivotal that we have legitimate authority in the society and we must follow them. There had been many times when people did not agree to follow certain authority and then revolution like French Revolution[21] occurred to bring about changes in the society. According to author Samuel Butler, “Authority intoxicates, and makes mere sots of magistrates; the fumes of it invade the brain, and make men giddy, proud, and vain.”2 Francis Bacon stated that “All authority must be out of a man’s self, turned . . . either upon an art, or upon a man.” [22]
3.1 Why authority must use their power wisely?
Authority must use their power in a right way as if the power is not used for the betterment of the people than there will be no need to follow the law means the significance of the law will be meaningless. For people to be more respectful towards it is very much important to use the power more and more efficiently to prevail the peoples trust. As an example we can talk about the function of judge and jury. The judge has the general conduct of the proceeding deciding questions of law and practices, including those relating to the production and admissibility of evidence. The jury finds the facts, thus dealing with the credibility and weight of the evidence.[23]
So authority must use their authority to serve. They must be slaves of justice and stewards of the Divine law. Most importantly, their actions and words must witness to the justice and truth demanded all men by God. The consequence of their disobedience to these obligations is chaos and sin. If they do not act justly, serve those entrusted to them and live as an example of truth, they will lead others astray and encourage sin.[24]
3.2 Consequence of Misusing Authority
Authority is not created by the authority figure, nor given to him by God. Rather, authority is given to him by the people of his society. The abuse of authority can lead to difficult times for those who do not have power. There have many countless instances throughout history that show the misuse of power in every level or authority. The following discusses such examples –JamunaFuturePark[25]built without traffic clearance: The mega complex has been made in Kuril of the capital beside the Pragoti Saroni which is surely to generate traffic jam once it opens. The DMP[26] has not given the authority the traffic clearance but still it is being constructed with the approval from Rajuk[27].
Authority can be both good and bad but much depends on how that authority is to be maintained. Hard work and value deserve authority; violence and threats do not. Authority can be maintained by continued value or it can be imposed via scare tactics and violence and emotional appeals. One authority deserves respect, while the other could deserve revolution.
4. CONCLUSION:
In summary, it can be said that law is equal for all. Rule of Law ensures that power is going to be used in a fair and reasonable way rather arbitrarily leaving scope for discrimination. Other than effective implementation of rule of law, sustainable development of a country is quite impossible. A nation needs to maintain law and order in society, a peaceful environment for the progress of the people. Right use of Laws and right order in society will gain respect for Law among people and hence, people will fear about the consequences of committing crime. Thus, people will abide by law. From our overall analysis, it has clearly found that law and order can do everything, it can rule a country, society and man. Almost everything done my human being can be controlled by right order and law. So, appropriate use of law and order is a must to control the negative behavior of people. However, as a natural habit people may involve crime sometimes. They must be punished according to law, but besides punishment, they should be given the opportunity of salvation. Once they get rid of crime and criminal mind they should be well treated like other general people, so that they can be inspired to make free themselves from sin and crime.
Aristotle certified that “law should govern”, and those in power should be “servants of the laws.”[28] Lord Chief Justice Coke quoting Bracton, “The King himself ought not to be subject to man, but subject to God and the law, because the law makes him King.” [29] In his book Cialdini[30] convincingly demonstrates that most of us have a very strong tendency to follow the instructions of someone we perceive to be an authority. He concluded from his experiment that humans possess an extreme willingness to go to almost any lengths on the command of an authority. From Coalmine’s experiment it is clear that those who have the power to influence people should use it wisely otherwise if not used in a positive way then this power of them over people can become the source of turbulence in society.
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- Gci.org, 2010, ‘What is salvation’, Grace Communion International. [online, retrieved on 17th June 2010], available at: < http://www.gci.org/disc/16-salvation >
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14. Prof. P. Surianarayanan, Development of Rule of Law, Page 3 (1st ed., Madurai: Madurai Kamraj University, 1983).
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[1]Anatole France, The Red Lily, 1894, chapter 7 French novelist (1844 – 1924)
[2] Kafka, Franz. Briefe, 1902–1924. Ed. Max Brod. New York: Schocken Books, 1958.
[3] Roderick T. L. , The Nature of Law, Part III: Law vs. Legislation; by. Line Number 14.
[4] Black’s Law Dictionary Pg-1196 (Fifth Edition, 1979): Law is above everyone whether it is governor or governed, rulers or ruled, no one is above the law, no one is exempted from the law, and no one can grant exemption to the application of the law. Rule of law is a general legal maxim according to which decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws, without the intervention of discretion in their application.[4] Rule of Law demands that power is to exercised in a fair manner and not in an arbitrary manner which leaves scope for discrimination.[4] One of the prime challenges for a nation is to maintain law and order in society, a peaceful environment for the progress of the people.
[5] Uiowa.com, 2010, Rule of Law [online, retrieved on 15th June 2010], available at: http://www.uiowa.edu/ifdebook/faq/Rule_of_Law.shtm
[6] (1610) 77 ER 1352
[7] A.V. Dicey, Introduction To the Study of the Constitutional Law, eighth edition, Oxford, 1914
[8] Article 2 of the Universal Declaration Of the Human rights, 1948
[9] 1969 uprising in East Pakistan was a democratic political movement in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) that took place in 1969. (http://www.genocidebangladesh.org/?p=278)
[10] Muhammad Ayub Khan, (May 14, 1907 – April 19, 1974) He became the Pakistan Army’s first native Commander in Chief in 1951, and was the youngest full general and self-appointed Field Marshal in Pakistan’s military history.
[11] Transparency International is the global civil society organization leading the fight against corruption.
[12] Saleem. S. (2010). Time to act. The Dawn. Retrieved from http://blog.dawn.com/2010/06/15/act-time “It means people are involving crime in Bangladesh at higher rate. Now if we can identify the main reason of growing crime rate, it can be found that the law and order is not used properly here. There is a cycle of breaking law here. The rulers and the authority of law breaks the law, as a result, general people become the victim of injustice and inspire to disobey the law. At present, in Bangladesh law can be bought by money. For example, if anybody does murder and gives bribes to the authority of establishing law will be got rid of punishment. That is why the people who have money and power do not care about the law.”
[13] Theme: article on Grace (Christianity), first paragraph, Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki. Viewed on 17.06.10
[14] Oxford dictionary, 2005-06, revised eighth edition, Oxford University Press Inc., New York.
[15] Dunn, Thomas, 1823, Salvation by grace through faith, published by J. H. Cunningham, Philadelphia, page 3.
[16] First Paragraph, Article on Salvation, Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvation, Viewed on 17.06.10.
[17] Oxford dictionary, 2005-06, revised eighth edition, Oxford University Press Inc., New York.
[18] Theme: Article ‘What is salvation’, Grace Communion International. http://www.gci.org/disc/16-salvation. seen on 17.06.10
[19] Anderson, Garry, Paragraph 1, Article on “ Is law important”, Auld Brewer Mazengarb & McEwen, Lawyers and Notary Public, New Plymouth.
[20] Anderson, Garry, Paragraph 5, Article on “ Is law important”, Auld Brewer Mazengarb & McEwen, Lawyers and Notary Public, New Plymouth.
[21] The French Revolution (1789–1799) was a period of radical social and political upheaval in French and European history. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years. French society underwent an epic transformation as feudal, aristocratic, and religious privileges evaporated under a sustained assault from liberal political groups and the masses on the streets.
[22] Source: Natural History–Century X–Touching emission of immateriate virtues, etc.
[23] Cases and Statutes on evidence by G.D. Nokes, LL.D, page 6
[24] Law and order, page 2, last Para.
[25] Jamuna Future Park will be one of the biggest shopping malls in the world. The construction was started in 2002. It has been planned by the management that the shopping mall will be opened for all by the end of 2010
[26] Dhaka Metropolitan Police
[27] Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha: A letter has been sent by the DMP to stop the construction but Jamuna Group Chairman Nurul Islam Babul claimed the project has a DMP clearance for the vehicular traffic it will generate. The DMP has claimed that the owner of Jamuna got the Rajuk approval through some corrupt officials, flouting the rules whereas the Rajuk is claiming that they approved the design of Jamuna Future Park following a directive of the High Court. In this example, we can see that authority in different sectors are blaming each other but not coming to any constructive conclusion to come to the right decision. Here the high court is the ultimate authority over Rajuk and DMP and if it gives permission to continue the construction with the clearance then the High Court is certainly not using its power of authority wisely. This is a common case in a country like Bangladesh where authorities are using their power mostly for the benefit of their own rather than the society and as a result we the normal people are suffering in our daily lives. For example, if Jamuna Future Park opens then all the people living in Bashundhara residential area will have to suffer heavy traffic jam.The society is dependent on the elites who have the power to influence people and change the lives of the normal people by economic and social development. This is why they need to use their dominance power wisely because if they exploit their power then the whole country will suffer.
[28] Aristotle, Politics 3.16: “it is more proper that law should govern than any one of the citizens: upon the same principle, if it is advantageous to place the supreme power in some particular persons, they should be appointed to be only guardians, and the servants of the laws.”
[29] In the case of Proclamations (1610) 77 ER 1352
[30] Robert D. Cialdini,“Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion:” The mechanism in play with the authority principle is that people will be inclined to substitute the judgment of someone who possesses the symbols of authority for their own. Cialdini cites a study where an unknown person using the title “Doctor” gave incorrect medication instructions – over the phone – to very experienced nurses. Even though the instructions were clearly wrong, the nurses did not use their own clinical judgment. Instead, the instructions of the “doctor” were followed 95% of the time.
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