Justice of the World and the Rule of Law - Coursework Example

Running head: POLITICAL THEORIES, JUSTICE AND THE RULE OF LAW POLITICAL THEORIES, JUSTICE AND THE RULE OF LAW of the ___________________________________________ Student ID No. ______________ Program: _________________________________________ (course or educational curriculum) Specialization: _________________________________________ Faculty Mentor/Professor: ________________________________________________ Name of school: __________________________________________________ Abstract Law and justice are the fundamentals of world order and universal peace. Owing to the idiosyncrasies of individual persons, races, cultures, and nations, each and everyone in this world has his own political orientations founded on national boundaries, environment factors and other natural circumstances, among others. POLITICAL THEORIES, JUSTICE AND THE RULE OF LAW Law For those who believe, the origin and foundation of law come from the divine. It is therefore more of a personal opinion or belief which others would rather consider as an uncertainty blindly accepted or as a human idea beyond logic. It is largely a question of faith. Whatever the flaws, the precepts of divine law theory are basically hinged on what is right and what is wrong. Under that concept, any chaos or disorder in a community is resolved by determining what is good or bad in the conduct of the members. Hence, when all went loose and everyone was in pandemonium and craving for his or her own individual human desires, the biblical Moses saw that a law or set of laws be put in place in order to bring back orderliness and desirable behavior among the throng. Seeking heavenly intervention, he took rage against the people and dictated upon them absolute obedience to the Ten Commandments which he claimed came from above. Whether the directives were really from supernatural forces or not did not make a difference. What was then more essential and urgently necessary was that sanity and normalcy returned to the ancient land within the ambit of law and justice. As population multiplied and as men adopted different beliefs, perceptions and concepts, bowing to one symbol of adoration and worship over and above the power of humans became impossible. Those who were of superior intelligence developed their own independent thinking, perceptions and understanding of things and events and discussed and debated on their ideas in the public forums. The expressions influenced even those who did not care about changes and dynamics taking place in society. As it became imperative, practical laws which did not bear to any divine connection slowly gained acceptance. It had to be accepted that there were scores of people who did not believe in a god or in gods primarily because they did not see those to be worshipped. They did not entertain the idea of leaving to faith whatever they wanted to believe in. Interspersed between the differing factions, the concept of natural law became a neutral ground as an alternative that could be accepted by all to a certain extent. Hence, one who sowed and planted would harvest the fruits of his labor as a natural consequence. On the other hand, one who slapped had to likewise be slapped but this kind of hypothesis received intense criticism as not coming from a positive view. Natural law was therefore deemed ambiguous. (Natural Law. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosopy. [internet]). Nevertheless, its evolution led in huge part to the establishment of legal systems in modern civilizations. Law, justice and order were likewise sought by people who then felt deprived, denied or constrained of their liberty and free choice. This predicament was looked up as equivalent to inequality and discrimination in that if one was free, everybody would be so. In the quest for liberty, freedom and equality, the legal option was deemed the most feasible. Within that realm, liberty and freedom in new generations are conceived to be the direct results of the rule of law which logically had justice as the basic foundation. Furthermore, the supremacy of law has now been deeply rooted as the greatest contributor to economic growth. It is also perceived to have modernized politics and encouraged the respect for human rights. (Yu, Helen and Alison Guernsey. What is the Rule of Law? THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL FINANCE AND DEVELOPMENT. [internet]). Order Order is the set of things that keeps a society or community and the members belonging thereto in an organized manner. Order is an essential element of society for it to exist in peace and in prosperity. A group or state that is in order is neat and organized. People readily understand each other. Infractions or offenses committed against one is considered a sin against the populace and are dealt with pursuant to the rule of law and the mechanisms of justice. Felons are punished while those who live in good behavior are protected by the tools and instruments of the government. Order has to be instilled in order to maintain peaceful existence among the vast majority and for them to focus their time and energy toward prosperous and worthy undertakings. Stability in economy and in security cannot be attained if there is no order. Any decent and civilized society or community must embrace the rules and standards needed to maintain the organization under the principles of order and peace. Once order is installed, peace will follow and progress will be next in line. Order is sometimes imposed by the dictatorial whims of a sole pillar of power under the maxims of absolutism. In this manner of implementing order, the voice of the power holder is the single authority and law. No one is to complain or to question the wisdom of whatever decision or action that the despot or ruler takes. The welfare of the subjects solely depends on the caprice of the leader who controls everyone and who disciplines all who are deemed to be erring followers. If the motives of the lone ceremonial and official head are sincere, honest and for the best interests of the people under his rule, there will be no problem. The chief executive can rule effectively with dispatch and the use of resources can be balanced. However, known dictators have always deviated from being good at the start to being the worst after a while. That is explained by human temptations and frailties. Worldwide efforts and poignant moves for the abolition of oppressive government regimes and tyrannies have led to ardent calls for free government. Considering that democracies have flourished, the unilateral style of mandating order had become obsolete. Order and discipline within the person have to be self-taught and self-inculcated if he aims for success and if he yearns for a life that has no entanglements with the laws and the system of justice under which those laws operate. Stated in another way, it is up to the individual to exercise self-restraint and discipline while he is in the process of achieving his personal objectives and dreams. There is his free will which is subject to only one condition which is that he should respect the rights of others while exercising his free will or free choices. Free will being therefore not absolute, the actor or doer has to set his courses of action and discretions in natural harmony with the surroundings which include other people, things and places. If substantially done in a collective way between and among all the members of society, this is the most ideal option to take in gearing toward a healthy community and stable economy. To illustrate, if all the citizens of a township gather and dispose well their wastes, plant vegetables for self-consumption and spend modestly, they can become a great, big and healthy people. They help the environment, they preserve their resources and they live a healthy life. But this is not the usual situation. People hop from fast-food to fast-food, do not care about their wastes, spend imprudently and simply just do not care what can be done to humanity and the environs. In sum, people in general lack discipline and self-control. They just do not mind. In return, we get the calamities which are man-made, that is, which could not have happened had things been done right well instead. Floods result from mountains which have no more trees because these were cut indiscriminately for trade. Irregular climate changes are said to be caused by man’s recklessness in the handling of the environment. If man is good to nature, he will get that goodness back. That is how to live in natural harmony. If one cannot indeed live wholesomely and with due regard to the natural surroundings, he must be prepared to expect the ugly consequences. As mentioned in the preceding paragraph, disasters are caused by the neglect of man. A punishment is appropriate and justified. Just as in common law, he who commits a crime has to suffer the penalty provided for in the law. In essence, the rationale and justification of sanction is true with positive or natural law as are so with common law albeit the mechanics and formalities of the latter are defined under practical rules and regulations. It may further be noted that the expressed intentions to impose punishment in common law for the commission of crimes and offenses are clearly made known. Among those is to give warning and to show sample to society in order that similar misdeeds may be deterred or avoided in the future. Another justification is to prevent the criminal from doing the same malfeasance if he is not locked up on jail. Justice In modern civilization, it is claimed that justice has its roots in sixteenth century Athens in the person of its genius Solon, a great poet, philosopher, trader and economist. Just like the story in the bible mentioned earlier, his mission to install justice and the legal system was during the time that Athens was in the midst of chaos and revolutions. (Bordenn, Walter A. Isaac Ray Corner. A history of justice: origins of law and psychiatry. American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. AAPL Newsletter. April 1999. [internet]) It was a period when revenging violence kept coming back and forth among adversaries and there seemed no end. The rule of law and the arms of justice had to be then put in place in an atmosphere wherein everyone was equal before the eyes of man and that one who offended another was punished in accordance with the established legal precepts. Likewise in consonance with those guidelines, the commission of crimes and felonies were deterred as the supposed malefactors feared the penal sanctions then being imposed by the authorities of law. In present day common law, justice may be classified into procedural and substantive. Procedural justice refers to those which pertain to remedies, processes and methodologies. An illustration may be in order. For instance, X is accused of murdering A allegedly because B saw him (X) killing A. However, in view of inconsistencies in testimony, the jury and the court did not believe in what B testified. X was therefore acquitted or freed. After a while, a new case against X is filed again for the death of Z. X can now claim double jeopardy and cannot be prosecuted anew. This is part of procedural justice because there are procedures or processes that must be followed in order to protect the interests of all concerned. In the case of X, it will be unfair to him if the same criminal suits are filed against him repeatedly. This is so because the very processes previously undergone by him will be undergone by him all together again. Laws of democratic territories frown upon this tolerance as in violation of a person’s right to procedural due process. Even if indeed X is guilty, common law may step in and stop the proceedings for being un-procedural. Upon the other hand, substantive justice pertains to that system wherein the controversy and the application of substantive law are clearly delineated. For instance, if John steals the car of Peter, the former violates Peter’s substantive right to property. Hence, there is a need for obedience to substantive justice, along with the accompanying processes and procedures, in order to determine what substantive rights of Peter were violated and what substantive remedies are available against John. Summary To recapitulate, law and order are among the necessary attributes of society. If there is no law, people cannot exist under peaceful and livable circumstances. There will be no rules, no regulations and no ordinances to follow and obey. All will be free-wheeling. Whoever is fit survives. No one respects another. There will be no decorum or decency. Everything will be in chaos. On another note, if there is no order, society dies on the first day. People will be unorganized and functions and activities will pause indefinitely. References Bordenn, Walter A. Isaac Ray Corner. A history of justice: origins of law and psychiatry. American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. AAPL Newsletter. April 1999. [internet] Accessed November 18, 2009. Available at: Natural Law. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosopy. [internet] Accessed November 18, 2009. Available at: < http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/n/natlaw.htm> Yu, Helen and Alison Guernsey. What is the Rule of Law? THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL FINANCE AND DEVELOPMENT. [internet] Accessed November 18, 2009. Available at: Read More