( 7 minute speech at the Toastmaster )
Toastmaster of the Evening,
Fellow Toastmasters
And Welcome Guests
Justice as I see it.
EXPERIENCE
Have you ever heard the cry , Where is justice ? I believe this is something familiar to you.
AGGRIEVED PARTY , A VICTIM , ORDEAL, GRILLED
That’s when we talk of our rights in law , and when we are the aggrieved party and being wronged /injured as a victim. Another situation , a person may be wrongly accused for crime he did not commit. Going through trial is no ordinary ordeal for some . No one may want to encounter it, given the choice. Trial may be a long process , tedious, and even boring, depending on its complexity. You will be grilled by a lawyer in cross-examination , and stunned by the rather rude question : I put it to you are lying! Rather intimidating , isn’t it ? But that’s the reality of it.
SUMMONED
You can’t refuse it when you are summoned to come to court. You will risk being arrested if you didn’t turn up. Or your case would be struck out if you are the litigant.
JUDGMENT DAY , DIVINE INTERVENTION
Justice becomes alive when its judgment day . That’s day every one is waiting for , and when your fate will be decided . Everyone will be intently listening to the words of the Judge . What’s the results or outcome , you may ask? You’d cry in joy if it’s in your favour. Or you may be in tears of anguish in defeat , if you lose. But the worst is felt by the one who faces a death sentence after having exhausted all legal avenues . To the family of the victim , that’s the day justice is served. The Prisoner , on the other hand, will then be put in a death row , pending execution. However, if he’s lucky before his time is up, by a stroke of divine intervention , say there is a travesty of justice , and the real culprit was eventually arrested and convicted for the actual crime, he would be spared his life, and declared innocent and released to society.
JUDGE
Justice depends on a judge or who the judge is. He is human, with temperament , likes and dislikes. Never to be taken for granted. We can’t predict the outcome of the case because we can’t read his mind. We just pray that that he would not be misled by the other side, and that he is fair and not bias . He reads the evidence and facts . His diary is laden with cases, and he will cut you short if you are long winded because his time is precious.
APPEAL
If we disagree with him , you can appeal to the next higher court in the hierarchy of courts whereby you effectively point out where his decision has gone wrong. If the higher court is with us, the court will say, “Appealed allowed”. Otherwise it will say, “Appeal dismissed.”
END OF ROAD TO JUSTICE
For those who can’t afford to go further in the appeal process , that will be the end of the road to justice. The consequence is that we just have to live by the decision though you may say it’s most unfair, and your facing hardship because of it , unless you can do something to change the law like persuading your Member of Parliament to look into it and raise it at the Parliament.
LOST CASES
Litigants lost their cases sometimes because of procedural grounds ,breach of court rules or certain legal principles which are not fulfilled . Or It could also be because they didn’t tell the truth or sheer lack of evidence at the trial. That is to say , they failed the test of balance of probabilites. As for criminal cases, the duty of defence lawyers is basically to make a gap in the prosecution case as wide as possible ,so that at the end of the day , there is no guilt proven beyond reasonable doubt.
NO GLADIATORS
Good Lawyers in navigating through these cases would not consider themselves gladiators, rather to expedite the disposal of the case by assisting the court . They would not try to win at all costs . That’s why nowadays , they may try to mediate or arbitrate for win-win solution for their respective clients.
MYTH, BEST LEGAL MINDS
There is a myth that those who win the case was due to their hiring the best lawyers. Some lawyers may disagree with that statement because a lot depends on the facts and peculiar circumstances of the case, and what goes into the preparation of it.
So, if I may ask, who need justice now?
TFJ
1 March 2020