DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52452#0065
COURTS OF LAW.
37
of justice, honourable men, of tried integrity, who
are able to bear, like good bulls, the burden of the
administration of justice.
* 5. The members of a royal court of justice must
be acquainted with the sacred law and with rules of
prudence, noble, veracious, and impartial towards
friend and foe.
6. Justice is said to depend on them, and the
king is the fountain head of justice. Therefore the
king should try causes properly, attended by good
assessors.
7. When lawsuits are decided properly, the mem-
bers of the court are cleared from guilt. Their
purity depends on the justice (of the sentences
passed by them). Therefore one must deliver a
fair judgment.
8. Where justice is slain by injustice, and truth
by falsehood, the members of the court, who look
on with indifference, are doomed to destruction
themselves.
competent judges are able to discharge the onerous duties of their
responsible office. They must be men of ripe wisdom, acquainted
with sacred law and with the ways of the world, and the king must
have tested their qualifications. A. Vishzzu III, 74, &c.
5. The law-books contain many utterances of the sages, which
are obscure and difficult to make out. Therefore slow-minded
persons, who are unable to understand them, and to refer their
contents to each case in hand, must not be appointed. Well-
descended persons shall be appointed, because they will avoid
partiality from family pride. ‘Veracious’ persons have a natural
abhorrence against untruthfulness. A. Yagnavalkya II, 2.
6. ‘ On them,’ i. e. on the judges, whose qualities have been
previously described. A. Vishzzu III, 72; ManuVIII, 1; Ya^na-
valkya II, 1, &c.
7. If the king decides lawsuits justly, the assessors obtain their
own absolution through the just decision. A.
8. Identical with ManuVIII, 14.
37
of justice, honourable men, of tried integrity, who
are able to bear, like good bulls, the burden of the
administration of justice.
* 5. The members of a royal court of justice must
be acquainted with the sacred law and with rules of
prudence, noble, veracious, and impartial towards
friend and foe.
6. Justice is said to depend on them, and the
king is the fountain head of justice. Therefore the
king should try causes properly, attended by good
assessors.
7. When lawsuits are decided properly, the mem-
bers of the court are cleared from guilt. Their
purity depends on the justice (of the sentences
passed by them). Therefore one must deliver a
fair judgment.
8. Where justice is slain by injustice, and truth
by falsehood, the members of the court, who look
on with indifference, are doomed to destruction
themselves.
competent judges are able to discharge the onerous duties of their
responsible office. They must be men of ripe wisdom, acquainted
with sacred law and with the ways of the world, and the king must
have tested their qualifications. A. Vishzzu III, 74, &c.
5. The law-books contain many utterances of the sages, which
are obscure and difficult to make out. Therefore slow-minded
persons, who are unable to understand them, and to refer their
contents to each case in hand, must not be appointed. Well-
descended persons shall be appointed, because they will avoid
partiality from family pride. ‘Veracious’ persons have a natural
abhorrence against untruthfulness. A. Yagnavalkya II, 2.
6. ‘ On them,’ i. e. on the judges, whose qualities have been
previously described. A. Vishzzu III, 72; ManuVIII, 1; Ya^na-
valkya II, 1, &c.
7. If the king decides lawsuits justly, the assessors obtain their
own absolution through the just decision. A.
8. Identical with ManuVIII, 14.