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Mladen Vukmir

Founder and Principal, VUKMIR & ASSOCIATES

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Will we come to think that the societies ruled by law have failed their capabilities by underachieving? Is law likely to become marginal?

As in the evolution theory for many organisms complexity has not always been a comparative advantage in the fight for survival, analogously, in the context of accelerated, networked and digitized social transactions the legal system can hardly survive in its complexity deriving from thousands of years of development and growth. The fact that today we see these complexities as fundamental elements of the legal system does not change the fact that law is just an attempt to regulate ethicality in the context of social relations.

See pp. 71-152 http://www.alai-croatia.org/Zbornik_2011.pdf

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    Paul Palmer 10+

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    Sep 15 2012: People who think idealistically rather than realistically may believe the mythology that law is an attempt to regulate ethics but this is hardly a universal. It may come close in some European or Scandinavian countries but in most countries, law is a way to hijack the power of the state for an elite group with power over the government. The US is certainly not a country of law. Government is for sale to the highest bidder throughout the federal system and most state systems. Politicians and wealthy people never pay for their crimes. Corporate officials never pay. Ordinary people are the only ones impacted by law. Politicians invariably protect other politicians. The public accepts the lame excuses put forward by politicians about looking forward, not backward. Every bank robber and gangster would love to make the same argument and it would be just as logical. The horrible vicious criminals in the American financial system who have caused suffering beyond measure, will continue to be lauded as respectable citizens by politicians.

    I wonder what role law plays in today's Croatia, the country of the person who posed this question.
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      Elizabeth Gu 30+

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      Sep 16 2012: "Politicians and wealthy people never pay for their crimes. Corporate officials never pay. Ordinary people are the only ones impacted by law. "
      Precisely. I think sometimes laws are meant for nothing. And in many countries it seems pretty obvious that laws are quite segregated from morality.

      Nonethelss, a law should exist. Its threatening impact is quite effective in a way that it at least plays a role in preventing crimes--doesn't work all the time, though. Even for politicians, they don't want to be regared as law breakers. Because the fact that a person broke the law surely has negative effects on his life. Maybe that's why people're afraid of being convicts or seeing them.

      Still it seems so unfair to ordinary people that wealthy people and politicians can easily deal with their crimes. And I guess that's where equality issues are raised. Without exception, every person should get the same penalty.

      Even for a country where there's a death penalty, laws seem to be ineffective when it comes to decreasing crime rate. Since legal actions aren't enough to keep the nation safe, people's awareness of morality and respecting humans' rights have to be followed.
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      Mladen Vukmir

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      Sep 16 2012: Thanks for mentionig it. In Croatia we have a series of trials for corruption and graft that would make me envy other countries should they have started similar legal actions. I personally strongly dislike corruption and am happy to see those who might have indulged in it being investigated and tried for it, such as our former prime minister and many of his cronies: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/16/us-croatia-trial-idUSBRE83F0G320120416 and http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=528906&version=1&template_id=39&parent_id=21 Also, if you ask me after the law is relegated to the secondary role in modern societies, criminal law will stay its most important segment.

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