Art 10

'Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favouritism to the great, but judge your neighbour fairly. (Leviticus 19:15)

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:1-8)

We thus made you an impartial community, that you may serve as witnesses among the people, and the messenger serves as a witness among you… (Quran 2:143)

When a dispute arises, he should pay equal attention to both parties, hear the arguments of each and then decide according to what is right. He should not act out of favouritism, hatred, fear or foolishness. (Jātaka, V.109)

Mohamed Chemsedin, the judge, went as usual to meet and welcome the new representative of the Caliph. The representative was accompanied by his guard of honour and by a group of peasants whom he had captured on his way. Mohamed Chemsedin inquired what he was going to do with the prisoners. ‘I intend to hang them,’ replied the Caliph’s representative. The judge asked him by what right such acts were to be done. ‘They are thieves and murderers,’ answered the Caliph’s representative. ‘Has proof of their guilt been established by legal process ?’ asked the judge. ‘We do not need to establish it,’ replied the representative of the Caliph. ‘A human being shall never be deliberately killed in an illegal manner in my presence. Rather’, continued the judge, ‘shall you go into the town, look into each case, and make sure whether the crimes attributed to these men are in fact proved. It is only once these crimes have been actually proved, that their execution will be justified and legal.’ The representative of the Caliph then submitted, accepting the opinion of the judge, who enjoyed great moral authority at that time. (Cadi Abu al-Yaman Mujir al-Din al-Hanbali, 14CE)

The king should appoint such persons as judges as have made a deep study of the scriptures, know the Dharma well, adhere to truth, and would be impartial towards the plaintiff and the defendant. Those judges who deviate from the law laid down in the Smritis or do other similar things, either through affection or greed or fear, should be severally inflicted with punishment twice that which the actual offender in the case might merit. (Yājñavalkya Smṛti, II)

If a thief or a brigand is captured and denies what he is accused of, you hold that the judge should rain blows on his head and pierce his sides with points of iron until he tells the truth. Neither divine law, nor human law, consents to this: confessions must be not forced, but spontaneous; they must not be extorted, but obtained voluntarily. If it so happens that after inflicting these punishments, you discover absolutely none of the offences with which the prisoner is charged, do you not blush, at least then, and do you not recognize how impious your judgement was ? Similarly, if the prisoner, unable to stand such tortures, confesses to crimes that he has not committed, who, may I ask, bears the responsibility for such impiety if not the man who forced him to make these untrue confessions? Moreover, if someone utters words which do not come from his heart, he speaks but he does not confess. So abandon these execrable practices, and renounce, from the bottom of your heart, what you have been mad enough to do in the past. What benefit have you derived from that for which you now blush? (Pope Nicholas I to the Bulgarians, 13 November 866)