Oscar Pistorius Trial --- Lady Justice There has been much interest, comment, imagination and suppositions about the outcome. Let me introduce you to this beautiful lady, the symbol of justice in the free world. If we look at Lady Justice we see that:- 1. She has a sword in her hand. This signifies her power as the final arbiter of accusation and dispute. That sword will either come down, i.e guilty+punishment or stay up, i.e, not guilty+freedom. 2. She has scales in her other hand. This signifies that, when considering accusation and dispute, she balances the interests of the disputants equally. We should see Reeva and Oscar as being in those scales, with their interests in balance. 3. Most importantly she is blind folded. She was not always blind folded. Her predecessors were not blindfolded. It took centuries of bitter experience for man to realized that she HAD to be blindfolded. Being blindfolded she does not see difference … of position … of status … of race, colour, creed or ethnicity. All that appear before her are equal … from the President to the shack dweller. 4. Please understand that unless these components are present there can be no justice. This is now accepted by the whole of the free world … and you will see Lady Justice standing beautiful and proud outside and inside courts all over the world on this planet. It is therefore not surprising that Lady Justice is enthroned in our Constitution, lauded as about the best in the World. So she is in every Court, deciding every issue on the basis of equality. As regards this trial we all need to understand that right now she holds Reeva and Oscar in those scales, balancing their interests equally. That will not change --- if and when the Court gets it right in the end. It is fundamental to our system that justice must not only be done, but also seen to be done. What we mean by that is that Lady Justice keeps Reeva and Oscar in perfect balance in her scales whatever the outcome. In the end her sword will either stay up (not guilty verdict) or come down (guilty verdict and punishment). But we will say that justice has been done only if Reeva and Oscar are still in that balance whether the verdict at the end is guilty plus jail; ... or the result is not guilty plus freedom. Should the Court get it wrong we will see the scales as having tipped to the disadvantage of either Reeva or Oscar.
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 12:09:18 +0000
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