On Tuesday 13 March 2007 22:07, Richard Hosking wrote: > OK I > accept that the courts must be autonomous from Govt and society to an > extent to function correctly.
Always autonomous from government, but NEVER from society! A few very basic principles apart (eg murder being condemned in nearly all cultures, but manslaughter not necessarily always) , legal systems and laws are nothing but reflections of cultural environments - which necessarily vary over time. The quality of a legal system (measured as public perception of it's validity or "justice") depends very much on how well the legal system stays in touch with current ethical concepts and perceptions. I have the strong feeling that our current legal system is getting out of touch with public perception of "justice" at increasing speed. The consequence of vociferous lobby groups putting pressure on legislative bodies, and resulting political pressure affecting high courts. Horst _______________________________________________ Gpcg_talk mailing list [email protected] http://ozdocit.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gpcg_talk
