The Everlasting Covenant - 9.6 Civil Code (Two)

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9.6 Justice and the Civil Code

Adapted by Hubert F. Sturges, from Internet articles, March 2009
How Today’s Justice System Compares to That of Ancient Israel
By Earl Hunsinger, http://www.buzzle.com/articles/125005.html
Topics:
Justice, not just Punishment
Civil Disobedience and Jewish Law
The Law of Nature
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Justice, not just Punishment

After the ten commandments were spoken on Sinai, Moses “drew near unto the thick darkness where God was” and was given details of the “Civil Law.” These were recorded in Exodus 20:21 through Exodus 23:13; as well as other passages in Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

The laws given to ancient Israel are found in mankind’s oldest book, the Bible. These laws were given immediately following their exodus from Egypt, around 1513 BCE.

There were just ten commandments spoken and written by God from Mt. Sinai, but a further civil code of over 600 laws were given to Moses. This law code was simple compared to the complex and convoluted codes of modern nations.  By the end of the 20th century, the federal laws of the United States filled over 150,000 pages in legal books, with about 600 additional laws being added every two years.

Many today feel that the modern legal system seems to care more about the rights of the accused than it does the rights of the victim. Some feel that the victim has no rights, only an obligation to help bring the perpetrator to justice. Some nations are addressing the subject of victims’ rights.

In our society, most cases, even when the accused is found guilty, no attempt is made to compensate the victim in any way for the crime that has occurred. For any hope of gaining restitution, the victim has to go through an expensive civil case. In a crime involving stolen property, there is a good chance that what was stolen is gone forever and the victim will never be fully compensated for his loss. Based on most criminal justice systems, as opposed to civil codes, the victim is supposed to be satisfied with seeing the perpetrator put behind bars.

Not only is the victim damaged by the crime, but he is punished further by having to pay taxes to support the criminal in prison. In North Carolina this cost is approximately $25,000 per year for each prisoner. With over two million people behind bars in the U.S., or one prisoner for every 142 residents, the total cost paid by taxpayers for all the prisoners in the U.S. is staggering. The situation in many other countries is similar.

By contrast, the law code of ancient Israel had no provision for a prison system. The emphasis was placed on justice, which meant not just punishing the perpetrator of the crime, but also compensating the victim. The Bible book of Exodus provides many such examples:

    * In a case involving stolen property (Exodus 22:4), the criminal was normally required to made double compensation to the victim.
    * This law even took into account the fact that for various reasons one animal might be worth more than another. If the stolen bull or sheep was found alive, the punishment was double compensation, but if the animal had been slaughtered or sold, the compensation imposed was five bulls or four sheep instead of the usual two (Exodus 22:1).
    * If the thief had nothing, he was to be sold into slavery to pay for the things that he stole (Exodus 22:3).

These laws gave real justice to the innocent victim by trying to compensate him for his loss. They also punished the criminal in a way that served as a deterrent to crime.
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Civil disobedience and Jewish law
http://www.gamla.org.il/english/beres/51.htm

From its very beginnings, Jewish law was viewed as an expression of God's will. Biblically, the law was referred to as the "word of God," never of humankind. God was the sole authentic legislator, and righteousness lay in observance of His law. Moreover, the absence of righteousness placed at risk the lives and well-being of both the individual and the entire community. Since law was always the revealed will of God, all transgressions were consequently offenses against God. As God was the only legislator, the sole function of human authorities was to discover the law and to ensure its proper application. According to Talmud: "Whatever a competent scholar will derive from the Law, it was already given to Moses on Mount Sinai."

The Jews regarded the principle of a Higher Law as being the foundation of all legal order. Where the law of the state stood in opposition to this principle, it was null and void. Where this occurred the individual was expected to oppose the law of the state. Thus "civil disobedience" was not only lawful, but genuinely law-enforcing.

International law, based upon a foundation of higher law, including Jewish Law, forms part of the law of all nations. This is the case whether or not the incorporation of international law into national law is codified explicitly. Where a government fails to abide by these rules, civil disobedience is not only permissible, it is required.

Jewish law rests upon two principles: the overriding sovereignty of God and the derivative sacredness of the individual person.  From the sacredness of the person, which stems from each individual's resemblance to divinity, flows the freedom to choose. The failure to exercise this freedom, which occurs when obedience is automatic, represents a betrayal of individual legal responsibility.

The likely costs of such a betrayal include increased loss of life and expanded human suffering.
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The Law of Nature
http://icevikings.blogspot.com/2005/06/surviving-disengagement-israel-civil.html

Nature is governed by law which obligates every one, and is known by reasoning which teaches that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions....

In transgressing the law of nature, the offender declares himself to live by another rule than that of reason and common equity, which God has set to the actions of men.... A criminal in his crime has renounced the reason given by God, and by his injury to one, has declared war against all mankind.

True law is right reason, harmonious with nature, diffused among all, constant, eternal; a law which calls to duty by its commands and restrains from evil by its prohibitions.... It cannot be changed by legislation and is open to application by every reasonable person. Nor is it one law at Rome and another at Athens; one now and another at a later time; but one eternal and unchangeable law binding all nations through all time....
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