Page 26 - The Circle of Life

I read the other day that apparently Apartheid South Africa got rid of the jury

system because only white people (you must be able to vote) would be jury
members and that meant that black people (no vote) would be treated unfairly.
That is hilarious and utterly shocking being on a normally reputable news

website for the real reason was to get rid of everything English where the jury

system came from originally. And up to 1969 you could still choose a jury if you
wished whether you were black or pink. Further it was felt that the jury system
made a mockery of justice with silly rules which delayed justice endlessly and

that the jury members were unable to follow the legal arguments. Skin colour

had nothing to do with it otherwise it would have been brought back after 1995
when Mr Mandela took over.

It shows to me once again to be very careful on what you read on the Internet.
It is mostly half right or half wrong. In law that is very dangerous. It is a boring

subject but usually we know what the law thinks is wrong or right even if we
may disagree.

You may also not believe me but even in Apartheid South Africa the court

procedures was very fair and impartial even if the laws were most definitely not.
Even the freedom fighters (known by us as terrorists by the laws of the day) had

their day in court and afterwards admitted (proudly I presume) to lying under
oath. Not that I blame them! Apartheid cannot be defended and I say that in all

my books as I feel quite strongly on the subject. They did however had access to
good lawyers (well paid by the international community) which is more than

what happened in other dictatorial African states under lifelong presidents like
Idi Amin. However, there is no doubt the white juries did look at black folk a bit

sceptically which is why I am against the death penalty also.

Another difference between the two systems which I noted is the way lawyers
behave. In most of Africa any lawyer walking around in court instead of standing
at his desk will be jailed for contempt of court. You simply don’t do walk around

and stand with your hands in your pockets giving the Judge or the witness the

evil eye. He will most certainly have a fatherly talk to you which you will regret
very much.

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