I recently read an article in which a 16th century painting was discussed. This painting was depicting the skinning alive of a corrupt judge.
It is said that in the year 500BC, a judge Sisamnes, was a corrupt judge at the time of Cambyses II in Persia.It was discovered that he took a bribe in court and passed an unfair judgement. As a consequence the king ordered that he be arrested for his corruption and ordered that he be skinned alive.
Before passing judgement the king asked Sisamnes who he wished to nominate as his successor. Sisamnes, in his greed, chose his son, Otanes. the King agreed and appointed Otanes to replace his father. He then subsequently passed judgement and ordered that Sisamnes removed skin should be used to upholster the seat on which the new judge would sit in court to remind him of the potential consequence of corruption. Otanes, in his deliberations, was forced to always remember that he was always sitting on the skin of his executed father. This helped to ensure fairness and equity in all his hearings, deliberations and sentences.
It reminded me about our lady justice, the symbol which is depicted at most courts or which is used by various law firms as their emblem, strangely enough mostly by women headed law firms.
I did some research and found that Lady Justice is an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems. This symbol dates back to the ancient Greek and Egyptian times.
In recent times Lady justice is depicted with three major accessories being a sword, balance scales and a blindfold each of which has its own meaning. The Balance scales represent impartiality and the obligation of the law (through its representatives) to weigh the evidence presented to the court.
The sword symbolizes enforcement and respect and means that justice stands by its decision and ruling and is able to take action. The fact that the sword is unsheathed and very visible is a sign that justice is transparent and is not an implement of fear. The fact that the sword is double edge means that the judgement can go against any party once again confirming the impartiality.
The blindfold is a symbol of impartiality and objectivity of the law and that it does not let outside factors, such as politic, wealth or fame, influence its decisions.
The story above reminded me of the importance of the impartially of the bench and how important it is that the public does not loose faith in the justice system.
We, however, as attorneys, conveniently forget that we are also officers of the court, which means that we as attorneys also have a duty to, as per lady justice, protect and serve the law.
We must ensure that we practice the law without being corrupted, without being influenced and without bending the law to suit our clients. We have a responsibility to ensure that the future generations does not loose faith in our justice system that it is not said that the courts have no teeth or that justice is only reserved for the rich and that a proper verdict can be purchased if you have enough money.
This responsibility is not only reserved for the bench, but as officers of the court this duty is also by implication the responsibility of each and every legal practitioner.