"I was rather interested in my fellow prisoners who seemed to me in no way morally inferior to the rest of the population, though they were on the whole slightly below the usual level of intelligence – as was shown by their having been caught."
This quote leads to all sorts of questions:
Jay Doubleyou: what is 'justice'?
And even this:
Jay Doubleyou: what is an 'illiberal democracy'?
Because, according to Matthew d'Ancona writing in the New European:
From El Salvador to Greater Lincolnshire via the White House, populists want to sweep aside the criminal justice system as we know it
Let us call it the Bukele Doctrine. It was unveiled in the Oval Office last month, in specific reference to a profoundly controversial arrangement between the US and El Salvador. But, in this hour of global realignment and democratic fragility, it should act as a warning to all free societies.
On April 14, Nayib Bukele, the Salvadoran president, sat beside Donald Trump, and explained how his ferociously repressive regime had cracked down on crime: “Sometimes they say that we imprisoned thousands. I like to say that we actually liberated millions”. This framing fascinated the US president. “It’s very good,” he said. “Who gave him that line? Do you think I can use that?” Most definitely, was Bukele’s reply. “You have 350 million people to liberate,” he said. “But to liberate 350 million people, you have to imprison some. That’s the way it works, right? You cannot just free the criminals and think crimes are going to go down magically. You have to imprison them, so you can liberate 350 million Americans that are asking for the end of crime and the end of terrorists.” ...
It is hard to overstate how transformative Bukele’s glib formulation truly is. For centuries, the legal systems of free societies have aspired to respect what is known as “Blackstone’s ratio” – as precious a principle as the “Golden Rule” that we treat others as we would like to be treated.
In his Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765-9), the great English jurist Sir William Blackstone declared that “the law holds that it is better that ten guilty persons escape, than that one innocent suffer”. In 1785, Benjamin Franklin went further: “it is better 100 guilty Persons should escape, than that one innocent Person should suffer”...
There is alarming evidence, too, that fear of crime and disorder has eroded popular support for Blackstone’s ratio. In a survey of more than 12,000 Americans in 2023, legal scholars Gregory Mitchell and Brandon Garrett found that most were now unwilling to err on the side of acquitting the guilty to avoid convicting the innocent; and that a sizeable minority thought that false acquittals were worse than false convictions.
As I wrote in January last year: “Trump’s 2024 pitch has its roots in a primitive notion of order and vengeance that has nothing to do with the rule of law”. And now he is making good on that pitch.
In an interview with the Atlantic to mark his first 100 days back in office, he was asked about the deportations without due process. “What if there’s a mistake?” said the magazine’s Michael Scherer. “You might get the wrong person, right?” Trump replied: “Let me tell you that nothing will ever be perfect in this world.” Just reflect for a moment on what that throwaway remark actually implies.
In a separate interview with Time magazine, the president was asked whether he agreed with his predecessor John Adams, who said that the American republic was “a government of laws, not of men”. For almost 250 years, this principle has been the nation’s secular creed. But – extraordinarily – Trump’s response was equivocal. “I wouldn’t agree with it 100 per cent,” he said. “We are a government where men are involved in the process of law, and ideally, you’re going to have honest men like me.” ...
All over the free world, an argument is raging about the viability of liberal democracy and its institutions. Are they still fit for purpose in the second quarter of the 21st century? Might some form of authoritarianism, though it comes at a price, be a better delivery system for the needs of contemporary society? ...
In January, a poll for Channel 4 found that 52% of Gen Z (defined in this survey as aged between 13 and 27) believe that the UK would be a better place if a “strong leader was in charge who did not have to bother with parliament and elections” and that 33% think that life would be better if the “army was in charge”. This is odd only if you forget how dramatically restricted the opportunities of the young to housing, a secure job and an affordable family life now are. As they see doors slamming all around them, is it any wonder that their thoughts are turning to different ways of organising society?
The populist war on law - The New European
So, how important is 'the rule of law'?
According to Simple English Wikipedia:
Rule of law is a legal maxim that suggests that no one is above the law and governmental decisions must be made only by applying known legal and moral principles.[1] The Rule of Law limits the powers of Government by judicial defense of laws and the Constitution which is based on recognized basic legal values, established in international law. The Rule of Law is meant to prevent dictatorship and to protect the rights of the people.Rule of law - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
From Encyclopaedia Britannica:
rule of law, the mechanism, process, institution, practice, or norm that supports the equality of all citizens before the law, secures a nonarbitrary form of government, and more generally prevents the arbitrary use of power. Arbitrariness is typical of various forms of despotism, absolutism, authoritarianism, and totalitarianism.
Rule of law | Definition, Implications, Significance, & Facts | Britannica
And in the news:
Trump’s 100-Day Assault on the Rule of Law | Nippon.com
EU lawmakers probe rule of law in Meloni’s Italy – POLITICO
Italy among the "dismantlers" of the rule of law in the EU, according to a study
Mexico’s government is throttling the rule of law
Mexico's fork in the road: Rule of law or authoritarian shift? - Atlantic Council
Eastern Partnership: Workshop on the Rule of Law takes place in Warsaw - European Commission
.
.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment