It goes without saying that the axiom ‘justice delayed, justice denied’, in principle, is accepted by all professionals of goodwill for the simple reason that it reflects and respects the philosophy of the rule of law, which is meant to serve the rights of the human person and the well-being of the community.
In practice, however, this axiom is unfortunately not always respected, even denied permanently. Our present reflection should concentrate on the meaning of ‘delay’, the reasons leading to it, its negative consequences and proposals for the much-desired rectification of the injustice.
Justice is delayed when, for example, a juridical procedure takes too long, even though the case at hand is not particularly complex and the evidence can be gathered without much difficulty.
Justice is also delayed because individuals who are entrusted with this delicate role of enacting justice intentionally prolong the outcome of the case for base monetary reasons.
In this way, instead of executing justice, they create further injustice. At times, justice is delayed because the evidence is intentionally not given by the parties involved in a truthful, clear way, thus preventing the magistrate from pronouncing the verdict according to the truth of the facts in time. When responsibility is absent, justice is lacking.
Innocent victims are rendered twice victims when they do not obtain justice in time
The time spent in suspension has marked negative effects on mental and physical health. In a provincial society like ours, where familiarity with many other locals is a given coupled with the hasty life we currently lead which barely leaves room for proper and objective reflection, one may easily end up being judged by the court of public opinion before justice is carried out in a court of law.
Even worse, occasionally, prolonging a judicial decision may result in the permanent denial of justice when one involved in such a process passes away.
Justice will not be enacted because of undue procrastination on the presentation of evidence, or, even graver, the conscious disposal of evidence. Innocent victims are rendered twice victims when they do not obtain justice in time, and victims in financial difficulties are rendered poorer.
The State and the Church have to ensure the provision of adequate personnel because the judicial procedure in their respective tribunals is no trivial matter.
Officials involved in judicial processes spend long hours in study, work and reflection in order to reach informed decisions. Individual cases should be looked into meticulously to try to guarantee that truth and justice are enacted. In the end, this endeavour is done in order to rectify hurts which would otherwise never be healed.
On a less individualistic scope, two points, which are thoroughly related, must be stressed.
For the public, the implementation of justice is not always an issue until injustice treads their doorstep. And worse still, the younger generations are not being instilled with a sense of respect towards institutions because they feel that everything is relative, everything can be done because criminals would still be seen roaming around and consequences are not applied with clear and immediate effect.
Furthermore, citing the pretext of false prudence, adults have not the courage, or, worse still, the interest, to stand up to sin and call it by its name, lest we pester those in power and whom we adore for their and our short-sighted and often selfish interests.
A word of praise should go to all those who, in one way or another, have their share in this cardinal social mission: bringing together truth and justice, responsibility and respect, maturity and communion.
We should laud their integrity, humble demeanour, wisdom, knowledge, disinterested concern and for investing themselves in the cases they handle as if they are their own.
These people make the timely delivery of justice a possibility.
An expedited process may become a reality despite the judicial process’s length since many issues may have already been resolved amicably, thus the stakeholders will attain closure more quickly and proceed serenely in life.
Rev. Joseph Zammit is an ecclesiastical judge.