The law

The law, as it is in most parts of the civilized world today, was derived from Roman law as adopted and refined by British law. In fact, a well codified legal system is one of the gifts of Great Britain not only to all its former colonies, but also to many other countries of the world. Both Indian and American laws are based on British laws. And yet one cannot help wondering whether there has not been a serious decline in the administration of the law in Britain itself, especially in respect of personal rights and the individual’s legal right of self-defence against criminals.

The subversion of the law in Britain in respect of personal rights in the face of attacks by criminal elements was underscored yet again recently by the killing of 31-year-old Sukhwinder Singh who was fatally stabbed by two muggers on an East London street when he tried to help a woman whose handbag the muggers had snatched. His cousin, who received a phone call about the mugging, later found his body in the snow. He had become a martyr to the extinct virtues of chivalry and aid of fellow humans in distress. However, the decline of the law in Britain is not evident in the tragedy that overtook Sukhwinder Singh. It is evident in the attitude of the custodians of the law and the law courts to acts of bravery and chivalry like his. The police officer in charge of the investigation made a significant comment. “This is a tragic death of a man… What Mr Singh did was obviously very brave, but I would not encourage that members of the public do that.” Then there is the legal opinion on what might have happened if Sukhwinder had caught the two muggers and been excessively violent with them in the eyes of the law. He would have landed up in jail. This lenient attitude to criminals who attack individuals has become evident through several recent judgements against victims of criminal attacks who have sought to exercise their right to defend themselves by attacking their attackers in self-defence. It is surmised that even if the muggers are caught the courts would accept charges of manslaughter rather than murder merely because Sukhwinder had initiated the chase! In other words, the original crime — the theft of the bag — that had triggered off the chase and the killing, does not seem to count at all. Of late, the London police have deemed it necessary to act with great sensitivity because such muggers are generally Black youths, unemployed, uneducated and from broken families. Their victims are almost always non-Black and often elderly and vulnerable people. Hardworking Asian shopkeepers and newsagents have also traditionally had problems with youths who pilfer from their shops. What is bewildering, to say the least, is that the police and the law courts are generally on the side of the criminals, and take a dim view of those who seek to defend themselves against attackers very enthusiastically. An extreme example of this is the case of a TV presenter Myleene Klass who merely waved a kitchen knife at intruders who were attempting to break into her house in Hertfordshire. She was doing what was natural and instinctive for a woman under attack. She was trying to frighten away the teenage intruders. But the police arrived very soon to tell her that she could not do that even to attempt to defend herself in her own home! Then there is the case of the two brothers Munir and Toker Hussain who were jailed last month for 39 and 30 months respectively because they had fought off and badly beaten one of three masked and armed burglars who had broken into their home!

Is the country that bequeathed legal systems to many countries all over the world now planning to dilute its own laws in such a way as to deny citizens the very fundamental human and legal right to their own lives in the face of attacks by criminals? People all over the world will be looking for a rational answer to this question. If everyone is deemed to be equal before the law, why should there be greater compassion for the thief, the burglar and the mugger merely for the accident of their birth? Do the courts look into the accidents of birth of the victims by the same token? The present legal system of Britain has been subverted to the extent that the thief is deemed a better citizen than the hero. THE SENTINEL