In the sacred chambers of justice, the apex court, the Supreme Court, where truth should hold its sway, a shadow festers, dark and dire, gnawing trust away.
Prejudice, that ancient scourge, a cancer in the core that undermines judicial independence since ancient days, leaving faith no more.
The legal maxim nemo iudex in causa sua—no one a judge in their own cause— demands impartiality, a cornerstone of laws.
Yet when a bench, with reckless haste, or perhaps deliberate alacrity, hears a case in a single day’s breath, when the motion was only filed less than 24 hours before the hearing date, it betrays the principle of fairness, hinting at prejudiced intent beneath.
Three judges, robed in solemn black, with silk curly wigs atop, their minds already bound, their own prior rulings, entrenched and fixed, on matters of this ground.
The doctrine of audi alteram partem—hear the other side—is cast aside when bias rules, and justice is denied.
Prejudice, the silent rot, erodes the public’s trust. It flouts the rule of law’s command: that judgments must be just.
The Wednesbury principle, of reason pure and clear, condemns decisions tainted by bias, arbitrary, severe.
When the gavel falls with partial hand, the scales of justice tilt. The people’s faith, like fragile glass, is shattered, crack by silt. Let judges heed the ancient call, let equity prevail. Lest prejudice, that venom old, cause justice to derail. For in its grip, the law’s great heart is silenced, bound, and chained. And liberty, once proudly free, lies wounded, bruised, and stained.
Uphold the principles, let truth in open court abide, or justice falls, a hollow shell, with prejudice as guide.
Written by a lawyer concerned about the erosion of trust in the judicial system especially at the Supreme Court.
