Thread: Discharge Without Conviction

Originally Posted by Tommy

Just saying that having studied law doesn't make you somehow worthier of deciphering "Law is very difficulty", esp seeing as the discipline isn't A) a science, and B) only 1000 years old (maybe he means dating back to the Magna Carta, which was very difficulty to read-y). Maybe Lee Kuan Yew should have got a mention, with his double starred first class honours in law from Cambridge, Soe Bais next 20 years may have looked a little different.

Strictly speaking, Law is not science, since it does not deal with things of objective truth, but more about things of human construct. I used the word "science" to get a point across.

I am not sure what you mean by "only" 1000 years old. 1000 years is a long time. When we are talking about laws like victim's conduct mitigating factors for the purpose of sentencing, what I want to remind people is that this law did not come into existence just now, just for Soe Bais. It has been around for a long time, and there would been scholars, lawyers, judges, and politicians debating extensively on something like this. So when you say I want this law changed, you probably need to first look at the debate that already occurred, consider the pros and cons that has already been debated and then decide or formulate some arguments to take the matter further.

I did not mention Lee plainly because he has nothing to do with western democracy.

Legally educated people form large portion of politicians is not really because laws can be hard to decipher (although from time to time this could play a part). But it is mostly because, as this thread illustrates, legally trained people are able to better understand why we have the laws we have today, what considerations have been taken into account for the law to become what it is, and how the law should change to address a new problem, what will work and what will not work based on past considerations.

Further. legally trained people are often better at articulate a view, with reference to relevant law/debate/public policy (which, interestingly, also evidence in this thread), and deliver more comprehensible speeches. This makes them better at running for offices. Lincoln.