Political wisdom over the centuries was purchased with the blood and bitter experience of generations upon generations. The rule of law use to be prior to the Middle Ages, that disputes of any kind were always private. The story of king Solomon presiding over the theft of a child is illustrative of the issue. There were no state prosecutors. You had to prosecute even murder. The ONLY state crimes were those against the gods, as was with Socrates, or directly against the state. Only in England did the King need money and began to abuse the rule of law. He developed the idea that he was a victim calling your private dispute disrupted the “King’s Peace”. That led to state prosecutors and then when wages also began, the king ruthlessly demanded taxes. The tax revolt of William (Jack) Cade (? – 7/12/1450) in May 1450 is what Shakespeare wrote in which he penned his famous passage: “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” (King Henry VI, part II, Act IV, Scene 2, Line 72). The lawyers were not “lawyers” as we see them today. The king was the only person allowed to have a lawyer, so they were really prosecutors taking people’s property and imprisoning them for profit.
Even in China, the minister Chao Cuo (? – 154BC) under the previous emperor Ching-ti (Liu Ch’i)(157-141BC), earned the hatred of other ministers after he introduced 30 new laws. The outrage was so intense; he was dragged out and executed in his judicial robes in the town marketplace. The abuse of the rule of law knows no bounds. When Edward I (1272-1307) returned to England in 1289, he was confronted by corrupt judges who had been bribed by special interests and dismissed them summarily. Then in 1290, Edward I seized all the property of the Jews and expelled them from England. Kings, dictators, and professional political classes, have always exploited the rule of law for their personal gain.
In Russia, they are claiming Putin also uses the law to imprison political rivals. It does not matter what country. No nation is above the abuse of the rule of law. The ONLY way to prevent this oppression is to return to the rule of law pre-Middle Ages. Nothing between two individuals is standing for the king/state to prosecute anyone. It must require the signing of a complaint by a citizen against another – never the state. Do this and we will return to an honest government. Politicians can do as they like because only the state can prosecute them. If citizens could prosecute corrupt politicians, the affairs of state would suddenly change.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/18/us-russia-navalny-idUSBRE96G0WO20130718
