Justice for all?

The legal profession is a noble mission which, if exercised in the right manner, is capable of protecting individual freedoms, guaranteeing the rights of the citizens and promoting social peace and order.

On the whole, officers of the court deserve our respect and gratitude. There is no doubting that the majority of the personnel that have been members of our judiciary, owing to their competence and sense of justice, have left a lasting impression on development and operation of our justice system.

Yet, nowadays we often hear complaints relating to the administration of justice: about legal cases becoming needlessly protracted for months and even years on end; about sentences being deferred and especially about the costs involved in the process. It is all too easy to lay the blame squarely at the door of the individual legal professionals, but in most cases our system of justice as a whole is at fault. In fact, it is in dire need of improvement, and even reform.

It is not easy for the man in the street to understand and appreciate the responsibilities and delicate task faced by members of the Bench and legal counsel. Too few of us are aware that legal professionals have a detailed code of ethics and that the majority of them - with a few exceptions - do their level best to abide by it.

When the lawyer appears in court, he is obliged to assist the court in making the juridical process work and, yet, at the same time, ensure that his client obtains the best possible result from the process. This dual nature of the profession does not make things easy because a conflict can arise between the duty towards the system of justice as a whole and the obligations towards a client. Lawyers who are either reckless in their approach or seek to win at all costs violate their ethical duties and strenuous efforts should be made to stamp out forms of malpractice, such as fabrications, deceit, dirty tricks and lack of discipline.

If the lawyer is the person who gets the process of justice started, the judge is the one who will determine its direction and destination. One famous US Supreme Court judge, Benjamin Cardoso, once said: "In the long run, there is no guarantee of justice, except the personality of the judge".

It should not be forgotten that judges and magistrates, too, are subject to a code of professional ethics. They are independent, but within a framework of a number of checks and restraints such as precedent, appeals, the legislature, and, not least, public opinion and the press. However, above all, they must be loyal to the law of the land and at all times strive to make the right interpretation and decisions by making sound use of their own conscience.

The function of a judge, in its simplest and most evident form, is the use of his judgment within the framework of the law as a case unfolds and is ultimately concluded. Some maxims are there to assist: for example, justice should not only be done, but also seen to be done; justice delayed is justice denied; and so on and so forth. The guiding light should always be justice.

There is a widespread assumption that a judge will be neutral and not venal. Indeed, there is an obligation to be so. Besides observing the points of procedure, he has to ensure that facts are brought out fully, and in as short a time as possible, so that the jury, and himself, can make an informed and just decision upon them.

Witnesses are often a crucial part of evidence, and each one takes an oath before the court. But can the sincerity of witnesses be always taken for granted? Probably not, since there is a widespread feeling that several people called to testify at trials take oaths very lightly. Taking an oath is a solemn undertaking; it is to invoke God as witness to what one affirms as a pledge of one's own truthfulness. Obviously for atheists, who deny God's existence, oaths do not have any meaning; but everybody who takes an oath should do so to support true statements.

At the end of the process the judge must direct a jury, if one is present, accordingly, without bias or favour, and then impose a sentence that is justifiable in the eyes of right-thinking human beings. He also has a duty to explain his decision.

No one can deny or minimise the importance of the judicial system in modern society on a national or international level. Laws and the administration of justice have a profound impact on the life of the nation. But if the ethical norms are being disregarded, the legal profession will end up losing all the spiritual and moral force that underpins it.

Fortunately, for us, the Bench and the bar in our country are not without honest men, who dare to speak and to act in the spirit and accent of Christian morality. But can we be certain that that applies to each and every member?

Mgr Cauchi is former Bishop of Gozo.