Mir Adnan Aziz is a freelance contributor.
Any democracy is as strong or as weak as its judicial system. Without judicial independence, the Constitution is but a fragile document that can be violated at will. Alexander Hamilton, an eminent lawyer and most influential of the US founding fathers, described it thus: “The independence of the judges once destroyed, the constitution is gone, it is a dead letter.”
A weak or compromised judicial system spawns a ruthless master who is a ruler with absolute control.
Some of history’s most berated figures had unbridled power. Hitler blamed the communists for the Reichstag (Nazi Parliament) fire. When the judges failed to convict them, a furious Hitler invoked the “Reichstag Fire Decree.” He also set up a parallel judicial system called the Sondergerichte, or the Nazi special courts.
Otto Thierack, a staunch Nazi and Hitler’s Reich minister of justice, issued a series of what are known as “Letters to All Judges.” In his first letter, Thierack set official guidelines for handing out sentences, including the death penalty, for anyone convicted as a public enemy. This was regardless of the severity of the accusation.
Hitler warned the judges, “I expect the German legal profession to understand that the nation is not here for them but they are here for the nation. I shall intervene now and remove from office those judges who evidently do not understand the demand of the hour.” Those who succumbed to the immense pressure played a crucial role in expanding and strengthening the power of the Nazi regime.........