Do Judges Make the Law or Find it Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Do Judges Make the Law or Find it - Essay Example An older dimension of the ideology that judges do not make law is captured in saying that judges find or declare law but do not make it.2 The question of whether judges make law or find and the arguments relating to this question is hinged on the roles of the three major organs of the government; the executive, judiciary, and legislature. It is argued that the legislative branch of the government has the mandate of creating the law.3 Nonetheless, it is true that the executive branch can make the law through executive orders which operate as law, and so can the judiciary branch make the law. While it is generally known that the judiciary is mandated to interpret law, it has over the years asserted its authority and has established itself as an equal branch of the government that can make law.4 Case law is a common example of the law that is created by the court system or the judiciary. Case law can be defined as the sum of body of cases that creates a body of law or jurisprudence on a certain subject distinct from legislations and other sources of law. Case laws interpret regulations, constitutional provisions, and statutes. Strasbourg jurisprudence recognized the powers of the courts to make laws.5 In R v Governor of HMP Brockhill Ex parte Evans (2000), it was held that even in the criminal law, the domestic courts can develop law through judicial interpretation of a case or more.6 So, are judges really law makers or are merely law finders? The fact that the main role of the judges is to interpret and apply existing law in a particular case is undisputable. Therefore, judges are supposed to find any existing law that is relevant to a case at hand and apply it to make legal decisions. In this case it can be said that judges are law finders rather than being law makers because they have to find law.7 The doctrine of separation of powers stipulates that each branch of the government should not interfere with the mandate and roles of the other branch and each branc h should be allowed to operate independently. In this respect, the court system should interfere with the legislature’s role of making the law.8 Instead, it should preoccupy itself with the role of interpreting the law. However, it is an appreciated fact within the legal fraternity that the legal system is dynamic and keeps on developing and so does the role of the judges. As such, it is expected that the role of the judges should not be confined only to finding laws and applying them, but rather to make law where necessary and leave their own legal imprint in the legal system.9 In common law countries, the case law left behind by the judges is used in applying to other cases that relate to the previous ones based on the doctrine of judicial precedent. It has been argued to a greater extent that the doctrine of judicial precedent is an indirect way in which judges make law.10 In common law countries and democratic states, the role of judges is perceived to be active and creat ive rather than passive. This explains why they have a special place in the judiciary branch of government. Apart from being expected to interpret the law, they are also expected to contribute towards the growth of the legal system of their countries through their knowledge, skills, experience, and creativity.11 Whereas the

Project part 4 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Project part 4 - Research Paper Example It is not that bad because during summer, there is usually a heavy rainfall which helps us to grow our crops as it provides enough water for them. We still do the traditional farming despite the advances of machines in agriculture. We plant wheat, maize, potatoes and soybeans. We also consume them because it enables us to save money and sell our surplus in the market. Our village is just small but we have a good sense of community. Although technology has already spread to the rest of China, we still manage to have those traditional good old fun of having tea and good conversation. I start the day early. I usually woke up at 5 in the morning where my wife prepares me food. She also cooks something extra for me to eat for lunch. My children wakes up a little later and prepare for school. After breakfast, I immediately go to the farm either to till the land or plant some crop. Depending on the day of the week, my wife usually go to the grocery during Mondays to buy foods, supplies for the children and buy items for the house .Since I make a living as a farmer, she does not have to buy much from the grocery as many of the items that we eat is already grown in the farm. She just usually shops for meat, some grocery items for the house and kids for the rest of the week. During the rest of the week, she keeps our house tidy and makes sure that our children are well taken cared off. She also does much of the academic tutoring to the children. In the farm, the seeds have to be planted and the land has to be tilled to make sure that I have a good harvest for me to provide my family. Also, I have to check that there no pests destroying my crops especially when harvest time is near. Good harvest is getting tougher to attain because I have to worry about a lot of things. This climate change has really an effect on farming as the weather is now harder to predict. It is no longer the same as before where heavy rains are expected during summer that gives us good harvests. Tod ay, there are times that it does not rain during summer and it is cut shorter for the longer winter. It is bad because it affects my harvest and I do not have a big land to till which is my only source of income. I usually go home at 5 in the afternoon just after the children has arrived from school. After resting for just half an hour, I usually spend time with them and my wife. Afterwhich, we usually have an early dinner to talk about what happened in school and also an opportunity to bond with the family. When we are done and the children are about to attend to their homework, my wife and I entertain ourselves with our modest television set in the house and watch our favorite show. China has already fully opened itself that we are now able to watch foreign syndicated TV shows. The children are already growing up and I am afraid that they may not get a good job in the future because jobs are getting scarce in China. I do not want them to end up as a farmer like me because life as a farmer can be difficult and it no longer that profitable. African Parent My name is Jumoke and I am from South Africa. I am an Afrikaner, a black man and a head of a family of five. My wife and our three children live in a modest house in Cape Town, the capital of South Africa. Life has changed for us black people for the better since the dismantling of apartheid. It took several decades for us to really live equally with the whites but now we are already equal on all aspects. I am working in the