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Verucundiae non offendere

Where J’accuse laments the need for a Maltese Cicero.

A word from the wise of old. The issue of the behaviour of public persons is not exactly one that started to be discussed today. The internet might deceive us into believing that this kind of questioning kicked off shortly after Tim Berners Lee’s “invention”. Wrong.

As of antiquity, the current issue that has burnt through the pages of printed and online journalism alike (and which merits a better more profound and objective analysis) was already being discussed. Take that great man from the family of the chickpeas – Marcus Tullius Cicero – who dedicated an essay called De Officiis to the best way to live, behave and observe moral obligations (Wikipedia). In Book I of the essay he even gets to discuss an item that is very topical in 2010:

At this point it is not at all irrelevant to discuss the duties of magistrates, of private individuals, [of native citizens,] and of foreigners. It is, then, peculiarly the place of a magistrate to bear in mind that he represents the state and that it is his duty to uphold its honour and its dignity, to enforce the law, to dispense to all their constitutional rights, and to remember that all this has been committed to him as a sacred trust.

Cicero’s reference of the sacrality of the magisterial role is not metaphorical in this case. De Officiis was the second book of all time to be printed after Gutenberg’s bible. Quite a feat but judging by its influence on mores through the ages, this record is more than fitting. The objective analysis of the issue that affects the judicial system in Malta has been sidetracked by the petty wars on all sides – each to their own interests.

Independently of the facts and allegations in particular circumstances, it is evident to any objective observer that a period of reflection, informed analysis and legislated reform is not only required from the proper fora but is essential to avoid the collapse of a system on which depends the very essence of the rule of law. The first faults that are apparent are in the eyes of the beholders – the very subjects of the law (who are subjects in order to be free). More action is required. It can no longer come from the bleating quarters of the fourth estate (misused or otherwise).

There is an interesting corollary to the maxim that states that “justice must not only be done but also be seen to be done.” It’s time to rebuild the people’s trust in the judiciary. Cicero, wherefore art thou? 

Iustitiae partes sunt non violare homines, verecundiae non offendere, in quo maxime vis perspicitur decori.

(Transl: Justice consists in doing no injury to men; decency in giving them no offense. It is the function of justice not to do wrong to one’s fellow-men; of considerateness, not to wound their feelings; and in this the essence of propriety is best seen.)

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One reply on “Verucundiae non offendere”

X’inhuma l-kriterji biex wiehed ikun bhal Cicero f’Malta? mhux li jikundanna dak kollu li hu kundannabli, mhux etiku jew illegali…u li din il-kundanna issir anka meta l-agir mhux etiku jkun dak ta kwalunkwe partit/settur?

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