2020年9月22日
Lord Sumption漢名岑耀信,音義俱可嘉,我雖未能找到史上同名的古人來比附一下,卻無礙爵爺是一身藍血的法律高人。
爵爺書上第一章叫Law's Expanding Empire,慨嘆現代民主社會愈來愈依賴法律存活,雖然爵爺這裏沒有明言引用Ronald Dworkin的理論,但當天Dworkin的一段話自可派上用場:「We are subjects of law's empire, liegemen to its methods and ideals, bound in spirit while we debate what we must therefore do.」現代法律成了帝國也成了一張恢恢的天網,我們俱成了國中網中的人仔。
當然,爵爺從來主張Rule of Law,但他坦言「it does not mean that every human solution and moral dilemma calls for a legal solution.」他心上的Rule of Law包含三大原則:(1) public authorities have no power to coerce us; (2) people have a minimum of basic legal rights; (3) there must be access to independent judges to vindicate those rights.
我常說Rule of Law的勝義不在強迫人民嚴守天下人間法,而是約束地上管治者的公共權力,以防濫權,司法機關頓成了這道防線的最後把關人,藉vindicate those rights以秉行公義,我猜施覺民大法官必然同意耀信爵爺此一高見。去留肝膽兩崑崙,目下一位去,另一位暫留。
Rule of Law不是ruling everything by law!爵爺擔心的是:「there is a growing moral and moral absolutism which looks to laws to produce social and moral conformity.」法律成了整頓整齊各人稜角的一把尺一把刀。
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