Justice Served

By Bonita Lazar
Riverside Secondary

aw can be thought of as the rules that a civilized society follows to ensure that individuals do not revert to basic instincts in order to get what they would need to make themselves happy. The first record of written law was Hammurabi’s Code carved onto a stone and placed in the centre of the town so that everyone could see it. Many societies may have had laws before the Code, but as it was the first set of recorded laws it has contributed greatly to modern society. Law in today’s society is very necessary to maintain order and show citizens of a country that there are repercussions for wrong actions. Without any system of law people are free to do as they please and get away with it even it has affected another person’s life. The past provides many examples to address the issues of a crime and deal out a fit punishment for the crime.

The laws of past societies have left a noticeable imprint on society overall. Mosaic Law, though having its roots in biblical belief, has addressed many crucial issues that past societies did not recognize. For example, it saw no need of special preference for a person who is wealthy rather than poor, which is where the idea that all people are considered equal under the eyes of the court comes from. These laws also saw a difference between an accident and a purposeful crime, which did not exist in earlier societies. This distinction is crucial because as human beings, all of us make mistakes and accidents do happen. Prior to this law, both situations were deemed punishable and innocent people received harsh punishments for the mistakes that they made. Another very important law that was passed was part of Greek law; it was the idea that the trial of any person prosecuted had to be public so that the entire society could witness the trial if they wished. This meant that the people saw justice and perpetrators were put to shame. This concept is still a vital part of society today.

As Canadian citizens we have the right to know who in our country is prosecuted and why. This gives citizens an idea of what might happen when a certain law has been broken. It also sets an example of how people should conduct themselves and interact with other people. We somehow cannot define society today as civil without having to mention the laws that govern us. Without law we would be nothing more than a primitive race bent on territory and hunting. Punishment for defying the law has also changed since the beginning of the century. The punishment for robbery these days is not as crude as the offender having his hands cut off or something as sever as death. The offender is now given the chance to change and see the error of his ways and to see the damage that it caused the victim. The law continues to change; if twenty years from now we were to look back on the laws of today we would find an immense disparity between the laws exist and the laws of the past.

What the future holds for law is gradual change possibly for the better of society. Something that we can hope for is that the law will always be there to protect us. A good example of the importance of law is the novel Lord of the Flies by Robert Golding. The story is about a group of boys who end up stranded on a deserted island without any adults to mind them and their actions. At first, they set out rules and appear to follow them but then the mood shifts. Without a proper authority figure to implement the laws the boys turn to savage behavior towards one another. This timeless novel reminds us of the way that people could resort back to their basic instincts without the people who implement the law in our society. This idea was brought up many times by the famous English philosopher Thomas Hobbes. For the future, there should be more emphasis on people who keep the law rather than make the laws, because without laws being implemented there is no guarantee that they will be followed.

Knowledge is power and knowing about where civilization has come from and how it has defined each of us individually will help us understand why they are needed. They were used to improve societies in the past and still do so in the present; but it is the job of each individual person to make sure that the law continues to mold society during its constant effort to better itself.