Silence of the Court
Our jobs reflect our functions but our lives reflect who we are. Corruption in and exploitation by the judiciary is a perennial issue although the judiciary throughout the world has a decent reputation by and large.
by Dr. Ruwantissa Abeyratne
With great power comes great responsibility ~ From Spider Man …the movie
( October 22, 2016, Montreal, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Daily News reported yesterday that The District Court of Colombo lifted an injunction order made on 5 October on Prasanna Vithanage’s controversial film, ‘Usaviya Nihandai’ (Silence in the Courts) which is based on the story of a woman who is sexually abused by a District Judge.
It is interesting that the film has brought to bear an issue which we hear of time and time again. New York Post of 18 October reported the case of a former judge serving in the Arkansas judiciary who bartered with some defendants who appeared before him lighter sentences for sexual acts and nude photos, including threats that he would make the defendants “disappear” if they did not conform. The prosecution had alleged that the defendant (former judge) had disingenuously and corruptly used his position “to obtain personal services, sexual contact, and the opportunity to view and to photograph in compromising positions persons who appeared before him in traffic and misdemeanor criminal cases in exchange for dismissing the cases.” The charges against the former judge (who resigned in May 2016) could amount to 20 years of incarceration and $250,000 in fines. A prominent spokesman for the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission of Arkansas is reported to have said of the former judge: “He’s a criminal predator who used his judicial power to feed his corrupt desires. Every minute he served as a judge was an insult to the Arkansas Judiciary”.
In another case recently reported out of Salt Lake City, a woman from Utah had filed a law suit against a former judge who had sexually abused her 35 years ago. One day in 1980 the plaintiff had been jogging along with two friends when those friends were shot and killed at the park. She became a key witness for the prosecution. The prosecutor, who was then 27 years old (and who later became a federal court judge) is reported to have taken the defendant, then a sixteen year old girl to a hotel and repeatedly raped her.
The Canadian Judicial Council has, in its guide “Ethical Principles for Judges” laid out four basic standards that cry out against such despicable conduct as discussed above. They are: judges must exercise their judicial functions independently and free of extraneous influence: judges must firmly reject any attempt to influence their decisions in any matter before the Court outside the proper process of the Court; judges should encourage and uphold arrangements and safeguards to maintain and enhance the institutional and operational independence of the judiciary; and most importantly, judges should exhibit and promote high standards of judicial conduct so as to reinforce public confidence which is the cornerstone of judicial independence.
The last factor – promoting high standards of judicial conduct and the reinforcement of public confidence in the judiciary – lies at the start of a legal career in the making of a judge. The fundamental training of a judge should involve a certain compelling inculcation of the need to establish essential trust in the court system through improved customer service and transparency. Transparency obviates the reptilian human instinct of trying anything if one can get away with it. Stringent penalties should be attached to unacceptable conduct and strict penal sanctions should be attached to such factors as a United Nations document on Judicial ethics and diligent performance says of “impropriety, the acceptance of gifts, confidentiality, ex parte communications, and abuse of position”. The importance of protecting the prestige and independence of the judiciary resonates the desire to create a fair, efficient and impartial judicial service that assists the public and is loyal to the judiciary.
In the final analysis, it is not about the office one holds, but about the person. Our jobs reflect our functions but our lives reflect who we are. Corruption in and exploitation by the judiciary is a perennial issue although the judiciary throughout the world has a decent reputation by and large. In Ecclesiastics 4:1-3 Solomon, the epitome of wisdom and justice, goes into a courtroom to watch a trial: “What he witnessed in the hall of so-called justice was exploitation and oppression, the pain and sorrow of the innocent, and the unconcern of those who could have brought comfort to them. What he saw so disturbed him that it led him to declare that it was better to be dead than alive and oppressed, and better yet, not to have been born. In such cases, an individual would never have to experience or even see this grasping, rapacious covetousness” |.
A judge should strive to promote in each segment of society he serves in his judicial capacity the guarantees for personal freedom under the law that is the common heritage of every human. He should believe steadfastly in the liberty of the individual under the law, in equal rights for all citizens regardless of gender, race, colour, creed or political belief. The judge should have a clear understanding of his role in society as a role model who should lead the society by teaching people what the moral and right thing to do is. He should act categorically and not consequently – meaning that he should act according to the value system he sets for himself. He should treat humans as an end and not as a means. His judgments and judicial conduct should reflect that the moral worth of judicial decisions and must be unconditionally and universally acceptable as being for the good of the people. His approach to justice should essentially be that an effective judicial system must apply the universal and categorical principle of the dignity and freedom of every individual. He should believe that overall public interest in good governance is now a common feature in the modern state.
