The hyenas went to court. In a corner sat an old ox, alone. The door swung open, a pack of hyenas strutted in, led by two burly lawyers. It was like an entourage of mafias in all its grandeur.
‘Your honour, I have suffered tremendous stress and sleepless nights because of the old ox. He had intimidated me, threatened to trample upon me. I have been living in fear of him. My life is a misery.’ The hyena told the judge. And mama hyena gave the young hyena a motherly hug, saying, ‘My poor innocent child.’ And the rest of the hyenas yelled, ‘Bad ox, bad ox!’
Then one burly lawyer stood up slowly. He gave the lonely old ox a cold stare. He turned to the judge and spoke in a cold measured tone. ‘Your honour, the ox had been intimidating my client for a very long time. I am submitting two summons against him for criminal intimidation and causing duress to my client.’
After reviewing the summons the judge told the lawyer to tell his client that it was a minor case and the client might want to find an alternative way to resolve the matter with the ox. The hyena jumped up, ‘No way, the ox had made me suffered, threatened to beat me, to trample on me, to kick me. I cannot accept anything. I want to sue the ox.’ The lawyer nodded and told the court this was the position of his client. The hyena wanted blood. The client would not consider any other options.
The judge ordered the lawyer to discuss the matter with his client one more time and the court would resume after a break. When they returned, the ox was still sitting in his corner, feeling very intimidated by the pack of hyenas and the condescending glare of the lawyers. The lawyer turned to the court and firmly announced that his client insisted that the matter must be settled in court. ‘My client would pay all legal cost to see the ox behind bars. And we will be framing more charges against the ox, like being too slow and obstructing my client on the road….the ox is a public nuisance.’
The judge repeated by asking if that was the final position of his hyena client. The lawyer confidently said it was. The judge pondered for a moment and then said. “This is a small matter and going to court would not in anyway solve the problem. The court has many more important cases to handle and would not be appropriate to use its resources to attend to such a case. The case is hereby dismissed.’
The hyenas jumped to their feet and screamed their disapproval. They did not know that they had hit the wall of justice. They did not know that the court would not be abused to execute their law of the jungle. The two burly lawyers were equally shocked that their meticulously crafted summons were thrown out by the court. They stood there looking sheepish in front of the pack of hyenas.
The judge told the old ox who was sitting there silently throughout the session that he could go home. Outside the court, the sun smiled at the old ox. The court of law stood firm and would not bow to the law of the jungle. The instruments of the law were there to serve justice and not to be abused by the rich, the powerful and the ugly. Every element of the legal system, from the judge to the legal counsels, was part and parcel of the legal system, to see to it that justice is carried out and not abused. The guardians of the court of law must be seen to be protecting justice and not to abuse the law for their private agenda.
The hyenas left the court feeling very sore and angry that they could not use the court of law to settle their personal vendetta against the ox.
Our higher mortals have always gotten favourable rulings from our courts against their political opponents. Are our courts practising the law of the jungle?
ReplyDeleteSaycheese
In so far as I have got to know, the Court Of Law in Sin upholds the Rule Of Law as interpreted, formulated and legislated by the Lawmakers.
ReplyDeleteAs for Justice, let us just say that Judges may not have free play of their conscience. Law does not equal Justice, nor does Justice equals Law.
Law enforcers may not have the power to do their duties according to their own judgement if they are bound by Standard Operation Procedures.
The Days of Poa Qing Tian are over, those were the days when lawyer was never heard of. However, for one Justice Pao(Poa Chern), there were many other corrupted Imperial Officials. So, justice has always being an elusive ideal.
patriot
There will be good judges and bad judges, good lawyers and bad lawyers.
ReplyDeleteIn dealing with hyenas you got to be very thankful to have a good judge. Hyenas with bad lawyers can be a very deadly combination. They could commit crimes using the court as their instrument to pervert justice.
Interesting parody you got here Redbean! There are hidden meanings and messages conveyed in this short satire!
ReplyDeleteLet us recall that there are 3 pillars in a truly democratic nation.
1) Parliament
The citizens elect their MPs every 5 yrs or earlier. The MPs will debate and approve any laws. The political party with the most MPs will form the govt. the political party with the most MPs can also change or modify any law of the land! For example if the political party with the most MPs passed a law to say that smoking is banned and illegal in the country, then it becomes law after 3 readings. That law will be enforced by the Executive arm.
Executive or Admin arm
The highest Executive arm is of course The Cabinet where there are many ministers heading many ministries. They will execute and enforce the laws passed by parliament. If smoking is banned then the minister and ministry will be responsible to enforce this law. For eg the police will arrest and charge an accused under such a law if he breaks the law.
The Judiciary or Courts
Those judges will interpret the laws of parliament. They will pass judgement based on evidence in an open court. They will have to give reasons to support their judgements. Lawyers and prosecution ie DPPs are merely officers of the court to prosecute or defend any accused person. In a democracy all accused persons of a crime are given a fair trial with a competent judge to hear the case.
The above is basically how a democracy works. Make the law, enforce the law and interpret the law in 3 different distinct areas of responsiblity! They check and counter check each other.
Justice Pao is different. He is the judge and enforcer of the law. If he is a good judge then it's ok. What if a corrupt judge having all the 3 types of powers in his hands ? He is as good as a king or emporer.
That is the system as it shld be. Each has a role to play. But then it is not perfect subject to abuse as clearly pointed out in this satire. Luckily the judge is a competent and principled judge or else the court system will be abused!
Really langgar!
Hi Gintai, there is a letter in the ST forum today complaining about a $23k bill by a lawyer for a simple representation.
ReplyDeleteLawyers are all eager for everyone to sue everyone as it means big money. No suing means no money. Sue, sue, sue.
The issue is not just the innocent public being made to pay till they become bankrupt for the most flimsy and frivolous or malicious summons. The court and its officials will be made to handle these reckless and frivolous matters that should be handled expediously with mediation. It is an absolute waste of money and the courts time.
And worst, making the court to kill someone that is really innocent but have no money to defend himself. The hyenas and mafias can exploit the system to practise the law of the jungle to their benefits. The court will become an instrument of evil by hyenas and errant lawyers.
It is a dangerous development if the court got drag into such mischief. Fortunately I think our legal system has very good court officials who would not allow such a development to be practised. The court of law must rule supreme over the law of the jungle.