Freedom of Thought and Action - Essay Example

?JURISPRUDENCE Module Module ID: Q 4 (Answer Freedom of thought and action appears to be one of the most preferred yearnings of all the creatures at large. Consequently, all existing species long for freedom, by demonstrating tremendous resistance to the incarceration; it is equally applied to the humans, which do not allow any type of confinement and captivity that could create an impediment on the way to exercising their free will. On the contrary, they make resistance against all types of bondages inflicted upon them in one way or the other. The individuals and nations, not demonstrating any signs of resistance to the factors and elements imposing bars on them, lose their liberty eventually; as Call (2002)1 argues that selfish and weak yielding must always do harm. Keeping in view the most fundamental of the human desires, statutes of prevailing law offer unflinching liberty to the individuals provided the freedom does not challenge the rights of others in such a manner that could place afflictions and tribulations to others. It is therefore national and international laws introduced by the states as well as the UN Charter of human rights vehemently look for the allowing freedom to the people without discrimination. Article 2 of UN Charter, passed by the General Assembly ascertains the freedom of individuals in these words: “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”2 In addition, the Charter applies bar on the authorities in respect of treating any group or community with prejudice, and also bans all types of pains and tortures, degradation and slavery altogether.3 In addition, Article 5 (1&2) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) guarantees individual liberty by stating it to be the fundamental right of every human, where no one shall be deprived of his liberty save in the cases and in accordance with a procedure prescribed by law. Thus, only the criminals, offenders and violators of human rights could be deprived of their right of liberty.4 The statutes of existing laws do not confine human liberty to one specific area or zone only. Rather, they offer complete freedom to humans in respect of speech, action, religious faith and cultural values, employment and recreation, and marriage and sexual orientation as well. British Law of Contract declares a contract to be void provided it restraining a person on his liberty of marriage, parenting and starting or running the business of one’s choice5 provided they do not create any other illegality and irregularity in them. Similarly, the statute of law does not allow an organisation to exhibit prejudice on the basis of ethno-racial and religious background of the individuals as well as while keeping their gender or sexual orientation in view. It is therefore International Labour Organisation (1960) has made it clear that any distinction, exclusion or preference made on any biased basis, which has the effect of nullifying or impairing equality of opportunity or treatment in employment or occupation.6 Nevertheless, law also enforces restrains on the freedom of individuals in the best interest of society. It is partly due to the very fact that law forbids the individuals to entering into the property of other without seeking his prior permission. Similarly, law restricts the people to get involved into the activities that could put the freedom and benefits of others into jeopardy. There was a time when the principle of might is right used to prevail in all cultures, where a powerful clan or tribe could invade over any weak neighbour by dint of its power, and could turn its population as their slaves; the Trojan Wars of ancient times also depicted the same.7 It is therefore renowned Gaullish chieftain, warrior and the conqueror of ancient Rome, Brennus had raised the slogan “Vae Victis” in 387 B.C. at the eve of his victory over Rome that signifies the world reality that the conqueror and his allies maintain every right to ill-treat the helpless and vanquished people of the subjugated land in the aftermath of their decisive victory.8 However, it was the time when either no regulatory authority existed to set the weaker free from the tyranny of the stronger group, nor did the powerful take the law into slightest consideration altogether. As a result, the cultures remained in constant conflict with one another, and used to plunder the life and honour of the weaker strata eventually. However, with the passage of time, circumstances took drastic turn, and people felt the urgent need for the devising and implementation a code of comprehensive political and moral laws in order to ensure the protection of the weak at the hands of the strong. Consequently, the people belonging to divergent societies, cultures and civilisations have raised revolt whenever they had to undergo slavery and incarceration in order to win freedom by fighting gallantly in order to break the shackles of slavery at large. It gave the idea of a comprehensive political and social encoding in order to assure the individual freedom of thought and action without causing harms to others. As a result, political set ups came into existence in the light of the laws that decided and determined the rights and obligations of the individuals towards the state on the one hand and towards one another on the other. History is replete with the evidences of the law to be the protector of individual and collective freedom. It is not only the contemporary era that has introduced legal framework ensuring freedom to the humans. On the contrary, the formation and enforcement of law in ancient times also protected human rights, including the individual liberty, through statutes. The Old Testament elucidates in details that the religious Mosaic Law manifestly prohibits the humans from attacking on the life, honour and belongings of others.9 Similarly, the laws of ancient Greek and Roman civilisations also bestowed unflinching freedom to their citizens. World famous French philosophers Voltaire had once stated that man was born free, but everywhere he is in chains.10 The statement not only maintains depth of meaning in its scope, but also reflects the intense human longings for the obtaining and sustaining of freedom. It is the philosophical thoughtfulness made by Voltaire and Rousseau in favour of freedom of thought and action, which awakened the crushed and downtrodden French nation from the deep sleep of ignorance, and taught them the value and significance of freedom. As a result, the French stood as firm as rock in order to restore freedom from the exploitative political and social system to bring the marvellous French Revolution of 1789 just for the sake of freedom. Thus, the Revolution was actually the strong reflection of the French people’s tremendous urge to win freedom from the unjust political set up. Hence, it was the law to ensure the masses unconditional freedom. In addition, the United States Declaration of Independence 1776 11also ensures absolute freedom to the people of America at the eve of winning freedom from the British crown. It not only allows freedom to the individuals by ensuring the rights and privileges of the fellow humans, but also partially condemns slavery, and aims at setting the slaves free from the exploitation of other humans. To conclude, it becomes crystal clear that law serves as a custodian and guarantor of freedom and liberty of individuals, and does not allow them to inflict any types of damage or hurt on others. The reason behind the implementation of social and moral values includes their being the identity of a culture; as a result, violation of state law as well as moral values could not be tolerated altogether. George (1993)12 submits to state that the price of toleration of serious deviance from a society’s constitutive morality is the loss of a distinctive form of interpersonal integration in community understood as something worthwhile for its own sake. Consequently, enforcement of state and moral laws in society plays vital role in mitigating the crime rate in its wake. Hence, law appears to be promoting and safeguarding the freedom of individuals along with restricting and confining unprecedented freedom to the individuals, as they could challenge the peace and harmony of society. Q 3: (Answer): It is a fact beyond suspicion that happiness and well-being of the members of society appears to be the first and foremost obligation for a political establishment. Consequently, almost all sovereign-states pay special consideration to the introduction and implementation of the laws according to the growing needs as well as the changing socio-political, economic, cultural and religious scenario in order to provide the citizens with an ideal state of affairs for leading a secure, harmonious and peaceful life. Not only this that law ensures the security of life, honour, pelf and possessions of the individuals on the foundations of social justice and equality, but also looks for the just and fair distribution of wealth, resources and opportunities in order to escape chaos and disturbances, which could be created in the wake of social injustices and inequalities. Social inequalities and injustices, according to the Marxist perspective13, may put the future of a social establishment into grave jeopardy, by creating the state of conflict and clashes between the haves and haves-not in the aftermath of them. Hudson (1997) is of the view that a welfare state could carry an efficient and equitable administration of legal aid, which could be highly beneficial for the disadvantaged social stratum.14 Consequently, a welfare state pay more concentration to the cause of the unprivileged stratum of society by providing them fast and easy access to justice and fair play in order to escape the disorder attributed to the unjust societies of the globe at large. Hence, law not only ensures peace and stability in a society, but also paves the way towards the socioeconomic uplift and bright future of its members. In order to achieve greater social inclusion, it is important that citizens are both connected to their legal entitlements and able to join in the legal discourse about their claims.15 Keeping in view all these facts the welfare states of the world offer their citizens equal chances of growth and development without taking any discrimination in respect of their clan, community, tribe, ethnicity, race, region, religion, gender, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status into least consideration.16 As a result, no ethno-racial or religious group could be viewed to be privileged one in the eyes of law altogether, and everyone enjoys equal respect and rights in the real sense of the word.17 It is therefore the remarkable French Revolution 1789 assured the protection of human rights to all social classes, and both the genders in the wake of the revolt of the masses launched against the tyrannical French political system of that time.18 Introduction and implementation of the statutes of law always keep the collective benefit of society in a just and welfare state, in order to protect the individuals from mental and physical harm. It is the case with the contemporary era welfare states of the world including the USA, UK, France, Germany and others, all of which have achieved the status of welfare and just states after a long and continuous struggle made by their subjects amidst the painful and unendurable opposition made by the influential strata by negating the rights of the poor and downtrodden classes of society. Though law guarantees the establishment of a welfare state; however, the statutes of law have aptly turned out to be a detrimental weapon in the hands of the cruel and ruthless authorities, which not only imposed restrictions and confinements upon their rivals, but also did not hesitate in destroying and ruining the political and religious opponents by seeking support from the statutes of law. It is not confined to the states of modern era; rather, the same traditions had also been in vogue in ancient cultures and civilisations. Taking the example of ancient Egypt, it becomes evident that the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt had turned the Israelites as their slaves, which was quite fair according to the Egyptian law, where all kinds of atrocities were considered to be legal and justified one in the eyes of law.19 Similarly, great ancient Greek philosopher and moralist Socrates was sentenced with the death penalty by the legislature of the then city-state of Athens with slight majority.20 Moreover, the ancient Roman emperors, including Nero and his predecessors had also ensured the protection of freedom in the light of the prevailing law, though the same was misused and exploited for their personal gains and benefits as well as announcing severe and brutal punishments to the political and religious rivals.21 Holy Christ was also crucified22 in the name of law, and his true followers, including St. Perpetua23 and others were thrown before the hungry beasts by the pagan African rulers in the name of law. In addition, great German reformer Martin Luther24 was excommunicated at the orders of the church with the blame that he had violated the principles of religious and state laws. Furthermore, hundreds of the French revolutionists and radicals, including Madame Roland25 and others were also guillotined by the rivals with the false allegations of revolting against the Revolution. Hence, even the cruel and unjust rulers also sought the support of law for the execution of their will. By looking into the history of the USA at large, it becomes evident that the founders of America, including Thomas Jefferson and others, had announced equality and justice as the major law for their country.26 However, the US leadership and masses demonstrated extreme injustices and prejudiced behaviour towards the minority communities, which created a rift between the white and black racial groups. The provisions of law denied equal rights to women, African Americans and others; as a result, the feminists27 and blacks28 had to make long struggle for turning the USA into a welfare state. Hence, it was the intention to strive for the uplift and well-being of all members of the American society that paved the way towards the creation of a coherent and integrated society, which could elect the member of any racial group to the President of the country. However, it took over two centuries for turning the USA a just and unprejudiced society. Had there no justice and equality, there could have no solidarity and peace in society; the notion is equally imperative one while drawing out the cultural scenario of the most civilised nation i.e. England. Though the country was regarded to be one of the most coherent societies on the face of the globe, yet it underwent riots in the wake of ethno-racial riots after the murder of a black young man, Mark Duggan, at the hands of the police in August 2011.29 However, the rational and law-abiding leadership handled the situation brilliantly by announcing punishments to the culprits, and thus worked for the well-being of society without discrimination. The same tradition still has been in practice in the developing countries, which though devise laws, but the same are either applied without taking mercifulness into consideration, or are misused for crushing the opponents under the chariot wheels of cruelty in the name of law and justice. To conclude, it appears to be crystal clear that it is not only the devising of the statutes of law and their implementations in a society that makes a country just culture. On the contrary, the state introducing comprehensive and necessary measures for the social, economic, intellectual political and educational uplift of its citizens, could be stated as a just and welfare political establishment. Moreover, well-being of society is not confined to treating the individuals equally and in accordance with the statutes of prevailing laws. Rather, providing of health, education, recreation, political and recreational facilities on equal foundations also come under the definition of well-being. In addition, struggle for the eradication of poverty, socioeconomic and sexual exploitations and class conflict are also the measures to be taken for the welfare of all members of society at large. Hence, it has rightly been stated that a society is just only to the extent that it ensures the well-being of its members. Bibliography Alan Woods “Marxism versus feminism - The class struggle and the emancipation of Women” 2001 Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/1503243/A_Critical_Look_at_Feminism_throughout_Anarcha-Feminism_Feminization_of_All_or_Disguised_Sexism Accessed on December 10 2012 Alastair Hudson “Towards a Just Society: Law, Labour and Legal Aid” (Pinter, London, 1999) Annie Payson Call “The Freedom of Life" (Indy Publish.com 2003) 7 Anthony Blond “A Scandalous History of the Roman Emperors” (Carroll & Graf Publishers New York 2000) Avatar Singh “The Indian Contract Act 1872” (Eastern Books Company 2002) Daniel Walker Howe “Making the American Self: Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln” (Oxford University Press 2009) Donald A. Mackenzie “Crete & Pre-Hellenic” (The Gresham Publishing 1996) 334 George Ritzer “Modern Sociological Theory” 3rd Edition (McGraw-Hill Higher Education 2007) 39-42 Henry Chadwick “The Early Church” The Pelican History of Church 1 (Penguin Book 1975) 258-59 Henry Thomas & Dana Lee Thomas “Great Philosophers” (Bhavan’s Book University Bombay 1971) John Abbott “Madame Roland, Makers of History”. (FQ Books 2010) ISBN 1-153-81253-3 Martin Brecht,. (tr. Wolfgang Katenz) "Luther, Martin," in Hillerbrand, Hans J. (ed.) Oxford Encyclopaedia of the Reformation New York: (Oxford University Press, 1996) 2:463 Max I. Dimont “Jews, God and History” 2nd Edition (New American Library 2003) 126--200 Mujtaba Haider Zaidi “Vae Victis” The Frontier Post newspaper March, 20 2009 retrieved from http://www.thefrontierpost.com/archive/c:10|d:20|m:3|y:2009/ Paul Gordon Lauren “The evolution of international human rights” (University of Pennsylvania Press 2003) 18–20 ISBN 978-0-8122-1854-1 Robert P. George “Making Men Moral: Civil Liberties and Public Morality” (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993) Rosa Parks “My Story” (Puffin Books 1999) Sara Maitland “Introduction: The Martyrdom of Perpetua” (Evesham: Arthur James: 1996) V.D. Mahajan “A History of Modern Europe since 1789” (S. Chand Limited 1988) 7-22 European Convention on Human Rights Act 1998 5 (1&2) Universal Declaration of Human Rights “United States Charter of Human Rights Article: Preamble” Retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml Accessed on December 10 2012 Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention (ILO No. 111), 362 U.N.T.S. 31, entered into force Human Rights Library (University of Minnesota June 15, 1960) Retrieved from http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/n3ilo111.htm Accessed on December 12 2012 The Telegraph “London Riots: timeline of violence” Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8691578/London-riots-timeline-of-violence.html Read More