Some Jurisprudential Deliberations

By Caroline Cheng
Vancouver Technical Secondary School

t was a standard field trip to the Provincial Criminal Court on Main St.—my Law class had the opportunity to see law “in action.” After the introduction, the class splintered into several smaller groups and clambered up staircases, yielding to lawyers racing off to highly important cases behind thick walls and doors that were open to the public, of course, because “law must be seen to be done,” says my Law teacher. I can’t remember which particular court it was, but my friends and I sat down with utmost careful stealth and watched the proceedings of a homeless man. He was standing in one corner, the section that had been created specifically to contain offenders, and addressed the judge with rude contempt. What was his crime? Standing in traffic while offering his services to cars during a red light with an outstretched, filthy squeegee and a wry, offhand expression. My Law teacher explained at school later that if there was a homeless man causing a slight disturbance at every intersection, traffic would not move efficiently and thus the progress of society would be hindered. Therefore, the law was applied to this single homeless man.

But what is law? Is it the legislature, which can take days, weeks, months, or years to pass in Parliament? The rules upheld by the authoritarian grip of police officers? A systematic assortment of morals and ideals shared collectively by society? A critical tool wielded by the firm grip of Justice, set about to lash those who defy her? Perhaps there is no answer, but the presence and need for law in society is indisputable. Earlier than even the founding fathers of our country, laws have been entrenched firmly into the lives of mankind, governing all aspects from economic pursuits to the intricacies of family relationships to the definition of criminal activity. And yet, “law” and “laws” are not quite entirely the same thing. Laws are shaped by the collective needs of society, varying in accordance from region to region and era to era. The laws of our forefathers are not the same as those today nor are they the same in another country. On the other hand, the nature of law is mysterious; it is an enigmatic, fundamental constant in society, naturally essential and wholly profound.

The textbook provided in my Law 12 class relates the early doctrine of laws—The Code of Hammurabi, Mosaic Law, Justinian’s Code, and more—as the predecessors of present-day laws. The conceptualized ideal of law has been described as a means to differentiate between what is right and wrong, and to punish those that do wrong. What is right and what is wrong then? A community’s moral codes and standards will frequently influence the type of laws that are established by lawmakers. However, in an undemocratic society ruled by a totalitarian, oppressive authority, the laws will often restrict the rights of the citizens, silence the freedom of speech or strip equality from groups of people due to sex, age, ethnicity, or other discriminatory factors. These laws are seen to be unjust and demonstrate that law and laws are separate identities. Laws have been and will be created which defy the basic principles of law as an imposing, but necessary component for society to function. Even today, laws will never satisfy every individual. There will be those who believe that their needs have not been recognized and perhaps their rallying cries will be heard at a future date and usher a change in the laws. At the core of humanity there exists a constant effort to recognize right from wrong; this is law at work in its natural predisposed state.

The embodiment of law in society has changed through time. Early British law used methods such as trial by ordeal, where the accused underwent physical torture to verify his or her guilt by the ultimate judgement of God. Now an archaic and barbaric method, torture in a Canadian court of law would never be standard practice. Laws are a complex, constantly shifting body of knowledge and legal procedures. Like a chameleon, laws will adapt to suit the needs of society or the needs of a particular case. Although law is interpreted and applied in many various ways, it can be seen that the true identity of law cannot be changed. Law establishes a certain structure within society, and even in a state of anarchy—general lawlessness and non-recognition of authority—there is an acknowledgement that rules, or laws, may be set down if the entire populace can come to a consensus, instead of allowing the heavy hand of a ruler or group to impose their supremacy.

The power of law arises from the individual and expands to encompass an entire community. It is a powerful tool that can be brandished in any which way to eliminate the liberty of man or bestow fundamental rights. Like any tool though, there must be a need or it will fall into disuse and become an outmoded antiquity. A lone man on a desert island has no use for law if he is the only sentient being within the area. The relationship of law and the society it serves is a reciprocal one—society needs law and law needs society. It is an eternal bond, joining the fundamental desire for structure and the tool which can shape that structure within a society struggling against the force of the entropic unravelling of its moral fibres. Laws have evolved from the past to the ones established in the present, and will change eventually upon the looming presence of the future. What is law then? Law is an invariable force in society, which serves a fundamental need in man to organize chaos into peace and order.