WHERE ARE OUR LEGAL PHILOSOPHERS?
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The Hindu, November 24, 2016
Excerpts:
Propounding
legal principles
Through the centuries, many legal
philosophers left their indelible mark on shaping institutions of governance.
Many of the systems of governance and rule of law as are familiar today have
been developed by applying principles expounded by legal philosophers. To
Aristotle, justice was all about “giving every person his due” and the purpose
of law was to develop a just society that made this possible. Kautilya’s Arthashastra postulated
that the king was the fountainhead of justice but with the limitation that even
he was obliged to rule according to the Dharmashastras. William
Blackstone, through his book, Commentaries on the Laws of England,
guided the growth and development of English law in no small measure; John
Austin popularised the theory that law was command of the sovereign made
credible by threats of punishment for its disobedience. The horrors of the
World Wars galvanised dialogue on a new wave of legal philosophy that
recognised the existence of some inalienable rights in every individual that could
not be eliminated even by state-made laws. One could also discern their
application in the famous Nuremberg trials where the defence of the Nazi
officers — that they could not be punished because everything they did was in
execution of valid legal commands — found no acceptance. The path-breaking work
of several legal philosophers of that time had their impact in the promulgation
of certain important international documents and treaties like the Charter of
the United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, European Convention
on Human Rights and the 1959 Declaration of Delhi on the rule of law.
Blog Post No 244424112016/Warrier
Blog Post No 244424112016/Warrier
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