Age should not determine retirement (1)

Much has been written lately about the need to extend the retirement age of our judges after the departure of four prominent and highly respected judges who were forced to retire on reaching the age of 65 years, at a time when they were at the peak of their intellectual capability. Society cannot afford to lose such learned and experienced individuals on the basis of age limitation.

Unfortunately, many individuals who wrote against this forced retirement based their arguments on material/economic/useful­ness considerations rather than on the natural rights of the individual.

The age at which any individual should retire from work has been jeopardised by the un­founded claim of the trade unions abetted by erroneous social teachings that “the individual has the right to work”, often claiming that the government, should be the provider of this work.

This claim is naturally false, as the individual who seeks to form part of any civilised community has the duty to work, a duty that should not be shirked voluntarily or forcibly, and his/her contribution should be in conformity to the physical and mental state.

Age should never be a consideration for retirement but only his/her mental and physical disposition to continue in service should determine the retiring date.

In the case of magistrates and judges, they should continue giving the country their services for as long as they are able to do so, while their salary and pension should be raised much more than the present ridiculous limit, considering the limitation of their freedom of association in society due to their exalted position.