THIS IS THE LAW

When people feel the injustice and harm they have suffered from the authorities of the state, they explain it to themselves and others as follows: “BUT WHAT TO DO, NOTHING CAN DO – THAT IS THE LAW.” I’ve heard this sentence many times from different people, even on TV, even I’ve read in the press. Leopold Tyrmand wrote in his Journal that after the war, the Communist authorities introduced a lot of incomprehensible and burdensome laws, orders and prohibitions. Tyrmand wrote that the people of Warsaw endured it, however, explaining to each other: “Nothing can be done about it – after all, you have to live.” L. Tyrmand wrote that he was surprised by this EXPLANATION, because it meant so much to him that people would repeat it as if “IT WAS NECESSARY TO JUSTIFY THAT MAN LIVES.”

Apparently, there was a very interesting change in people’s attitudes: in the communist system, people endured injustice because they were convinced that they had to live (and therefore that LIFE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN JUSTICE). Nowadays, people endure injustice because apparently they are convinced that there must be a law (and therefore that LAW is more important than justice). I think that is also the success of two otherwise great legal ideas: the democratic rule of law and the rule of law.