Does this apply to judicial committees too?
*** w98 6/15 26-9 True Justice-When and How? ***
THE innocent should have nothing to fear from true justice. Indeed, citizens almost everywhere have reason to be grateful if their country has a legal system that tries to ensure justice. Such a system involves a framework of laws, a police force to enforce them, and courts to administer justice. True Christians respect the judicial system in which they live, in keeping with the Biblical admonition to “be in subjection to the superior authorities.”—Romans 13:1-7.
However, judicial systems in various countries have made harmful and embarrassing errors. Instead of punishing the guilty and protecting the innocent, at times innocent people have been punished for crimes they did not commit. Other individuals have spent years in prison, only to be released before completion of their sentence amid serious doubt as to whether they were guilty and their conviction was warranted. Hence, many are asking, Will there ever be true justice for everyone? If so, when and how? Whom can we trust to protect the innocent? And what hope is there for victims of injustice?
Justice Gone Wrong
In the 1980’s, Germany witnessed “one of the most sensational processes of the postwar period,” during which a mother was sent to prison for life for murdering her two daughters. Years later, however, the evidence against her was reevaluated, and she was released pending a new trial. Die Zeit reported in 1995 that the original judgment “could prove to be a judicial error.” Up to the time of writing, this woman had spent nine years in prison surrounded by uncertainty as to her guilt or innocence.
One November evening in 1974, the city center of Birmingham, England, was rocked by the explosion of two bombs that killed 21 persons. It was an event that “no one in Birmingham will ever forget,” wrote Chris Mullen, a member of Parliament. Later, “six innocent men were convicted of the biggest murder in British history.” Later their convictions were quashed—but only after the men had spent 16 years behind bars!
Legal counsel Ken Crispin reported on a case that “captured the public imagination in a manner unique in the annals of Australian legal history.” A family was camping near Ayers Rock when their baby disappeared, never to be found again. The mother was charged with murder, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1987, after she had been incarcerated for over three years, an official inquiry found that the evidence against her could not justify a conviction. She was released and pardoned.
An 18-year-old woman living in the southern United States was murdered in 1986. A middle-aged man was charged, convicted, and sentenced to death. He spent six years on death row before it was established that he had nothing to do with the crime.
Are these rare examples of judicial mistakes? David Rudovsky of the University of Pennsylvania Law School notes: “I’ve been in the system for about 25 years and seen a lot of cases. I would say those convicted who are in fact innocent . . . I’d guess between five and 10%.” Crispin asks the disturbing question: “Are there other innocent people sitting dejectedly in prison cells?” How are such tragic mistakes possible?
Human Judicial Systems—With Human Weaknesses
“No human system can expect to be perfect,” stressed the British Court of Appeal in 1991. A judicial system can be only as just and dependable as the people who design and administer it. People are prone to error, dishonesty, and prejudice. Hence, it should come as no surprise that man’s judicial systems manifest exactly these same flaws. Consider the following.
According to Judge Rolf Bender of Germany, in 95 percent of all criminal cases, statements from witnesses are decisive as evidence. But are such witnesses in court always reliable? Judge Bender thinks not. He estimates that half the witnesses who appear in court tell untruths. Bernd Schünemann, professor ordinarius of criminal law at the University of Munich, Germany, made a similar observation. In an interview with Die Zeit, Schünemann confirmed that statements of witnesses are the principal—albeit unreliable—form of evidence. “I would say the typical reason for errors of justice is that the judge relies on unreliable statements of witnesses.”
Witnesses are fallible; so are the police. Particularly following a crime that causes public outrage, the police come under pressure to make an arrest. Under such circumstances, individual policemen have succumbed to the temptation to manufacture evidence or to force a suspect to confess. When the six men who were convicted of the Birmingham bombings were released, the British newspaper The Independent carried the headline: “Conviction of Six Blamed on Corrupt Police.” According to The Times: “Police lied, colluded and deceived.”
In some cases, prejudice may make the police and public suspect individuals of a certain race, religion, or nationality. As U.S.News & World Report comments, solving a crime can then deteriorate into “an issue of racism rather than reason.”
Once a case reaches court, decisions may be affected not only by what witnesses say but also by scientific evidence. In the increasingly complicated field of forensics, judge or jury may be called upon to decide guilt or innocence based on ballistics or the identification of fingerprints, handwriting, blood groups, hair color, textile threads, or DNA samples. One lawyer noted that courts are faced with “batteries of scientists describing procedures of bewildering complexity.”
Moreover, the magazine Nature notes that not all scientists agree on the interpretation of forensic evidence. “There can be genuine disagreement between forensic scientists.” Sad to say, “faulty forensic evidence has already been responsible for more than its fair share of faulty convictions.”
No matter where we live, all judicial systems currently in operation reflect human shortcomings. So whom can we trust to protect the innocent? Can we hope ever to have true justice? And what hope is there for victims of judicial error?
“I, Jehovah, Am Loving Justice”
Should you or a member of your family be the victim of an error of justice, Jehovah God and his Son, Jesus, recognize what you are going through. The most horrendous injustice of all time was committed when Christ was executed on a torture stake. The apostle Peter tells us that Jesus “committed no sin.” Yet, he was accused by false witnesses, found guilty, and executed.—1 Peter 2:22; Matthew 26:3, 4, 59-62.
Imagine how Jehovah must have felt about such mistreatment of his Son! Justice is one of Jehovah’s cardinal qualities. The Bible tells us: “All his ways are justice.”—Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 33:5.
Jehovah gave Israel an outstanding judicial system. In the case of an unsolved murder, the death was atoned for by sacrifice. There was no pressure to solve every crime at the risk of convicting an innocent person. No one could be convicted of murder purely on circumstantial or scientific evidence; at least two eyewitnesses were needed. (Deuteronomy 17:6; 21:1-9) These examples show that Jehovah has high standards and is concerned that justice be administered properly. Indeed, he says: “I, Jehovah, am loving justice.”—Isaiah 61:8.
Of course, Israel’s judicial system was in the hands of humans who had shortcomings similar to ours. There were cases when the law was applied wrongly. King Solomon wrote: “If you see any oppression of the one of little means and the violent taking away of judgment and of righteousness in a jurisdictional district, do not be amazed over the affair.”—Ecclesiastes 5:8.
Jehovah was able to correct the injustice done to his Son. The certainty of this strengthened Jesus, who “for the joy that was set before him . . . endured a torture stake.” Similarly, the joyful prospect of living on a paradise earth under the rulership of the Messiah, with true justice prevailing, can strengthen us to endure hearing about or even experiencing injustice in this old system. There is no harm or injury that Jehovah cannot put right in his due time. Even ones who lose their lives through a judicial mistake may experience a resurrection.—Hebrews 12:2; Acts 24:15.
If we suffer as victims of injustice, we can be grateful that many judicial systems have legal channels that may enable us to correct the situation. Christians may use such channels. However, they bear in mind this fact: Imperfect judicial systems are a reflection of a human society that is in need of a major restructuring. That is shortly to take place—at God’s hand.
Jehovah will soon do away with this unjust system of things and replace it with a new system in which “righteousness is to dwell.” We can have absolute confidence that our Creator will then administer justice through his Messianic King, Jesus Christ. True justice for everyone is near at hand! How grateful we can be for this prospect.—2 Peter 3:13.
[Footnote]
In the cases mentioned here, The Watchtower is not suggesting the guilt or innocence of any individual, nor is the magazine upholding one country’s judicial system as being better than that of another. Moreover, this magazine does not advocate one form of punishment over another. This article simply states the facts as they were known at the time of writing.
[Blurb on page 27]
Imperfect judicial systems —along with corrupt government, debased religion, and unprincipled commerce—are a reflection of a human society that is in need of a major restructuring
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Comfort from the Holy Scriptures
In November 1952, Derek Bentley and Christopher Craig broke into a warehouse in Croydon, near London, England. Bentley was 19 years of age and Craig was 16. The police were called, and Craig shot and killed one of the policemen. Craig served nine years in prison, whereas Bentley was hanged for murder in January 1953.
Bentley’s sister, Iris, campaigned for 40 years to clear his name of a murder he did not commit. In 1993, the Crown issued a pardon in respect of the sentence, admitting that Derek Bentley should never have been hanged. Iris Bentley wrote about the case in the book Let Him Have Justice:
“About a year before the shooting he met a Jehovah’s Witness in the street . . . Sister Lane lived not far from us at Fairview Road and she invited Derek round to listen to Bible stories. . . . What was good was that Sister Lane had the Bible stories on records, which she lent him [since Derek was a poor reader]. . . . He used to come back and tell me what she’d told him, things like we’ll all come back again after we’re dead.”
Iris Bentley visited her brother on death row prior to his execution. How did he feel? “Those things that Sister Lane told him helped him over those last few days.”—Italics ours.
Should you suffer hardship from an error of justice, it would be good for you to read and meditate on Bible truths. This can provide great comfort, for Jehovah God is “the Father of tender mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation.”—2 Corinthians 1:3, 4.
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A horrendous injustice was committed when Christ was executed