What Standards do we Expect?

"Our young and not so young... are not sure what is expected of them." (Letters, The West, 3 Apr 09)

Now there you have the core of the problem.

Is it okay to swear in public, at a person trying to do their job? Is it lawful for the government to give taxpayers' money back to taxpayers? Is self defence a good justification for hitting a policeman? Are you allowed to shoot an intruder in your own house? All of these are questions which have been answered by the courts.

To me, some of them seem obvious. Yet lawyers have spent hours -- or weeks -- debating the issues. In some cases they debated the "facts", such as the way that people usually speak, or the probable thoughts of an accused at the time of an attack. Other cases debated the meaning of existing laws, or of the constitution.

At the time of the "alleged offence", what were the thoughts and decisions of the accused?

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Legal explanations

"Hmmm... Under the precedent set by the case of The Crown vs Dick Turpin, I believe that it is legal for me to act to defend myself from an over-violent attempt to restrain me in my pursuit of a violent conclusion to this current fracas. Therefore I am perfectly correct to assume that I may use excessive force in order to further my chances of causing bodily damage to this uniformed officer who is attempting to restrain my alleged partner in this alleged physical confrontation."

Or perhaps, "I f*ing disagree with this f*ing public f*ing officer and it is my f*ing right to f*ing shout in his f*ing face in order to f*ing express my f*ing disagreement in the f*ing usual f*ing way that I f*ing talk."

Does anyone -- other that a lawyer -- really believe that people think that way?

Lawyers decide what society requires

The law is set up -- perhaps -- to maintain, reflect and reinforce standards of acceptable behaviour. The law is also set up to allow lawyers and judges to interpret it, in terms of phrasing, precedent and the legal view of the common man's standards and expectations. The result is, that the law is a self-sustaining system which operates entirely separately to society.

But what is it that society really wants?

Apparently we -- society -- want the right to swear in public and swear directly and forcefully at public officers attempting to do their job. That's the legal interpretation. The next case will probably aim to prove that the accused do not, in fact, normally speak like that...

Apparently we -- the public -- want the right to bash police who are attempting to stop a brawl.

Apparently we -- you and I and our neighbours -- want the government to have the right to take away our money as taxes and give it back as economy-saving cash handouts. Apparently we do not want the government to save a lot of time and money by simply charging us less tax.

Has anyone asked you what you really want?

The law is a self-contained system, constantly evolving, under the control of lawyers, judges and the occasional politician. When will someone ask the public what they really want?

Ask the public: What do we really want?

How easy would it be, to create a public opinion website. "The law currently allows self defence against an intruder in your own home. Do you support this?" "The law currently allows self defence against an intruder in your own home. You are allowed to use only enough force that a lawyer and judge -- who were not there, who will never be in that situation -- believe was just enough to defend yourself. Do you want these limits removed?" "The law currently allows people to swear loudly and threateningly at a public officer. Do you support this?"

Sure, the list is endless. But at least we could make a start. Ask a few questions, get some actual opinions from society. Publish the results.

What are our standards for our society?

"Our young and not so young... are not sure what is expected of them." We have the technology to ask the questions. We have the technology to publish the answers.

Find out what society really thinks -- outside the law courts. Discover what standards society would really like to live by.

Discover what society really does expect, of the young and of the not so young.

Perhaps even build a legal system which reflects society's standards, rather than the cleverness of lawyers.

Independent thinking & independent analysis of your problems by Agamedes Consulting. Support for your thought: email nick leth at gmail dot com