Mahavira Jain Vidyalaya Rajat Jayanti Mahotsava

Author(s): Mahavir Jain Vidyalaya Mumbai
Publisher: Mahavir Jain Vidyalay

Page 177

(M. J. V. SILVER JUBILEE ]
RULE OF LAW
regard to the relations of one man with another under the aegis of an organised society.
II. THE FORMATION OF NATION-STATE UNDER THE RULE OF LAW.
. It will do us good to cast a retrospective glance at the process of this struggle for law in the state. 'Eye for eye and tooth for tooth', draw dog and defend thyself', 'family feuds', street brawls of Montagues and Capulets, baronial anarchy, civil wars and Bartholomue massacres are well-known to students of history. Protection and defence for all without distinction under the supreme rule of Sovereign Law has been a plant of slow growth, watered and nourished by public opinion. People have no interest in disorder. They, as a rule, rally round a strong man who attempts to put down the lawless group or the lawless individual. Every criminal offence from a simple assault to murder or dacoity-anything that disturbs the peace of the community comes to be a common concern for which the whole neighbourhood is legally responsible. Recall parliament of England strengthening the hands of Henry VII with a Star Chamber Court--a clumsy device not known to the common law of the land but necessary for upholding the Supreme Law of Peace and adequate justice, Recall Cardinal Richeleu's heroic efforts to bring the haughty nobles of France under the yoke of State-Law. The last point in this framework of law was reached when d selling' even for the vindication of a private point of honour was made a crime. This law of the land is supposed to be no respecter of persons. It makes no distinctions. All citizens of the State come under it and all are equal in relation to law. Even the king in monarchical states or the president in Republics is not above it. The British Parliamentary history of the Stuart period will bring to the mind of the student the noble contribution of Sir Ed. Coke and others towards demolishing the claim of the king's prerogative to be above the law of the land and to change the law at his will. Recently, again, very much to the annoyance of the Executive Head, the Supreme Federal Court of the United States of America declared a part of President Roosevelt's New Deal measures ultra vires. Successful operation of the Rule of Law within a State, even after centuries of its yoke over man, needs constant vigilance of the public and their willingness to undergo sacrifices to prevent wrong-doing and to bring the wrong-doer to book. Violence of any nature has to be coerced. One cannot take the law into one's own hands despite one's belief in the certainty of right on his side. Third-party judgment is incumbent on every citizen of every state. Members