Pages

!!!*** THE PRINCIPLE OF LIBERTY***!!! 

The Principle of Liberty 

The traditional concept of a universal guiding principle, a “Right Law” to which Legislators and Legislation are subservient, is many centuries old. That we have not formally identified the essence of “Right” or Universal Law is most probably due to the fact that “we” both in and out of Government and Parliament have been more interested in seeking personal rather than universal benefit. Is it now time to reconsider this fundamental issue? 

When we begin to seek fair rules by which we can live together and collaborate productively without exploiting one another, we will find that the true nature of “Right Law”, of Universal Liberty, is and always has been clear and straightforward, awaiting only human recognition and acceptance. 

It exists in every one of us, for we all know what is right and wrong in social conduct – if we ever bother to ask ourselves. It exists as the fundamental basis of English Common Law; and it has been expressed by political thinkers, writers and philosophers for thousands of years. This is the Eternal Law of Right Social Conduct: that each should pursue his or her own advancement, but in ways which respect the right of others to do likewise; that each should seek his or her own growth, but in ways which do not diminish others. 

If we then seek to apply this principle in Government, we will find that the guiding policy is clear and simple: the purpose of Government and Law is the identification and prevention of exploitation, harm or injury between people. This guiding Principle has been expressed in many forms through the centuries; it is expressed clearly and concisely in the words of Thomas Jefferson: the purpose of Government is to prevent men from injuring one another. 

It is worth considering this proposition in detail, for it has implications far beyond its apparent simplicity. Clearly, Jefferson was not confining injury to grievous bodily harm, any more than he was confining the term men to the male gender. The purpose of Government in this view is to prevent people from injuring one another, and injury can take many forms which grow in number and complexity as the world develops. 

One can harm one’s fellow citizens by making and selling a machine which is unsafe in use; or through incorrect labelling of a food product which results in a user consuming an additive to which he or she is strongly allergic. 

There are many ways in which we can injure one another, in our personal activities, in commerce and industry, in our use (or misuse) of natural resources. In Jefferson’s view it is the job of Government’s to identify and define those actions leading to the injury of others, then to prevent them through appropriate Laws and Enforcement. 

Thomas Jefferson was not inventing a new idea. He was taking his place in a long line of political theorists and idealists from early Greeks, through Cicero, Bracton and Coke; he shared the same principles with his colleagues as Framers of the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights, and he was handing on a continuing tradition of Fundamental Rightness with which we are all, in our consciences, familiar. 

Most people of the Anglo legal tradition object in principle to any excess of regulation. We dislike meddlesome government; we find unnecessary regulation tiresome and annoying; we abhor oppressive government. Yet few would object to being told they may not do something, if it can be clearly shown that their action is in some way harmful or detrimental to others. And when a person is suffering injury at the hands of another, we would all accept that person’s right to remedy and protection in law. 

The idea is well summarized by one of the leading figures in British justice, the late Lord Denning, in his book The Family Story: “Each man should be free to develop his own personality to the full; the only restrictions upon this freedom should be those which are necessary to enable everyone else to do the same.”