We should not commit injustice when administering justice.

We should not commit injustice when administering justice - AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR By William M. Esposo | The Philippine Star News Opinion

Columnist W. Esposo writes and asks, thus:

1. On the contrary, we must ruthlessly impose justice and eliminate the double standard of justice which is practiced here. However, the process of administering justice should not be undertaken to the point that we lose our humanity. We can mete out justice without having to be mean, brutal, inconsiderate, unkind and cruel.

2. After having been found guilty, the convicted criminals certainly deserve to suffer the prescribed penalty of the Court of Law. It is only after they have been convicted can they be subjected to punishment — and it can only be the punishment which has been prescribed by the Court of Law.

3. Too often we see the violation of the rights of persons who are still categorized as suspects — people who are presumed innocent until the Court of Law hands a guilty verdict after due process had been followed. The police have no business parading arrested suspects in front of media just to demonstrate that they have done their job. How do you think suspects will feel (not to mention their loved ones) when presented on national television after having been compelled to wear that all too familiar orange colored prison T-shirt and with the government officials pointing an accusing finger at them as if already convicted of the crime?

4. To begin with, just how reliable is our justice system? How many times have suspects been released by the Courts after having been determined that they were victims of a police frame up or an honest mistake? Do you think that a person who has already been presented as a “criminal” on national television can ever completely remove the stigma of the unfair tag? Won’t some people think that the released prisoner just managed to get off on a technicality but was really guilty? Will that person really be able to ever regain normalcy in life?

5. In the rush to administer justice, society must be careful not to be unjust. Thus, the dictum of the law is that it is better to allow several guilty persons to go free than to convict one innocent person. God’s justice, if not karma, will certainly confront the person who escapes the arm of the law, but how does society really restore a smashed life when an innocent person is unjustly convicted?


At the end of the day, the real and substantive work of the Bar and the Bench is to promote the happiness of mankind by seeking truth and justice.