OF JUDICATURE

 The judges are supposed to interpret law, not make law or give law.
 Judges should have leanings towards learned, reverend, advised pronouncements. They

should steer away being witty, jocular and overtly confident. Most of all, integrity and

virtue are the ornaments the office of a judge should be adorned with.
 ‘Cursed is he that removeth the land-mark’

It is an unjust judge who overturns landmarks judgements and puts forward judgements which do

not have a firm foundation. The many evil elements of the society, though abhorable, cause

lesser damage than a single callous statement of a judge.

 Contamination of a stream is still easier to deal with, as it would be cleansed by the fresh

flow of the fountain. However, if the fountain itself is corrupted, then the basic purity is

lost. In the same way, the society is led into the right path by the judicial

pronouncements; however, if the judges themselves go astray, then all hope is lost.
 The judges have references to the following arenas of justice administration-
1. Causes or parties that sue
2. Advocates that plead
3. Clerks and Ministers of justice underneath the judges
4. Sovereign or state above the judges
1. Causes or parties that sue-

‘There be that turn judgment into wormwood; and surely there be also, that turn it into vinegar’

i. The prime objective of the judges is to prevent the meting out of injustice which adds a

bitter element to the society. As the saying goes, Justice delayed is justice denied, it is of

paramount importance that the delivery of judgments should be prompt so as to not sour

the sweet taste of fair judgments.

 ii. The judges are duty bound to see that the masses be saved from force and fraud. Force is

more pernicious (this is a word used in the text which roughly means deadly) when it is

open and widespread. Fraud, contrarily, is more poisonous if it is layered in deceit and

disguise.
iii. There is a parallel made between God and judges in the text, mentioning God’s action of

flattening mountains and raising valleys. This is done to highlight the need of the judges

to see that the downtrodden are given a level field to put forward their cases, and ensure

that all are treated the same in the eyes of law.

iv. ‘Wine press is hard wrought, yields a harsh wine, that tastes of grape-stone’

When grapes are pressed too hard, the seed inside breaks too and thus lends an unpleasant taste

to an otherwise fine wine. Similarly, judges need to strike a delicate balance between stern action

and generous mercy. Specially in the case of laws created with the very purpose of intimidating

anti-social elements. Such laws should be read in their essence and not interpreted quite so

literally while delivering sentences.

v. In cases of life and death, judges should work on the lines of mercy, giving the crime at

hand a critical treatment, but the person in question a more humane touch.
2. Advocates that plead-
i. ‘Over-speaking judge is no well tuned cymbal’

Judges should give a fair and patient hearing to the counsels pleading the cases. They should be

patient and have gravity. They should not cut in between and exercise unnecessary verbosity.

They should try and be in tune and sync with the advocates presenting the cases.

ii. There are four parts of hearing procedure followed by the judge-
 To direct the evidence
 To moderate length, Repetition or impertinency of speech
 Recapitulate, select and collate material points
 Give the sentence
 iii. Judges should never form favorites among the advocates and show apparent

preference before the masses. They should instead try and give a kind word to the

unnecessarily and should accept the sentence with humility. advocates, praising

their work, es pecially on the losing side.

iv. The advocates should not insist on appeals
3. Clerks and Ministers under the judges-
i. The place of justice rests on many shoulders like that of the clerks and the

ministers, along with the judges. ‘Grapes will not be gathered of thorns and

thistles’. Grapes can’t grow well in harsh conditions; similarly, justice cannot be

served in places where the entire machinery is not smoothly functioning. Thus the

clerks and ministers are very important.

ii. A good clerk is skillful in precedents, wary in proceedings, understands the

business of the court and is a ‘useful finger’ who sometimes can point the way to

the right arguments which would win over a judge.

iii. There are four bad elements in a court typically-
 People who file suits unnecessarily and increase work load of courts
 People who engage courts in quarrels of jurisdiction
 People who are ‘left hands’ of the court, full of trickery and deceit
 People who are obsessed with fees
4. Sovereign and state, their relationship with the judiciary
i. The country prospers when there is a good working relationship between the

judges and the kings, that is, the authority.

ii. They should work in consultation with each other in matters relating to public

importance, or in matters greatly affecting a large chunk of the population.

iii. True policies of the legislature and just laws are muscles which move together to

support the fluid movement of the body of the country.

iv. Judges should remember that while they should watch over the excesses of the

legislature, they should not be blind to their place which comes after the

supremacy of sovereignty. As such, they should not indulge in any act which

would cause a threat to that sovereignty.