publications_unodc_commentary-e

alone, he will always look to the law of the former kings for guidance.Stretch the plumb line, and crooked wood can be planed straight; applythe level, and bumps and hollows can be shaved away; balance thescales, and heavy and light can be adjusted; get out the measuring jars,and discrepancies of quantity can be corrected. In the same way oneshould use laws to govern the state, disposing of all matters on theirbasis alone.The law no more makes exceptions for men of high station than theplumb line bends to accommodate a crooked place in the wood. Whatthe law has decreed the wise man cannot dispute nor the brave manventure to contest. When faults are to be punished, the highest ministercannot escape; when good is to be rewarded, the lowest peasant must notbe passed over. Hence, for correcting the faults of superiors, chastisingthe misdeeds of subordinates, restoring order, exposing error, checkingexcess, remedying evil, and unifying the standards of the people, nothingcan compare to law.African LawIt has been noted 71 that many civilizations and legal systems flourished in Africa,some of them contemporarily with Greece and Rome, others with the EuropeanMiddle Ages. Among a vast array of legal concepts is that of reasonableness inconduct.The Barotse concept of the reasonable man is twofold – the generallyreasonable person and the “reasonable incumbent of a particular socialposition”. When, for example, there is an allegation that the manholding the distinguished office of councillor did not behave inaccordance with the dignity of his office, the judges ask themselveswhether the man in question behaved in the circumstances as areasonable councillor ought to behave. The community has its own ideasof the behaviour expected of such a person – dignity, patience, courtesyto the complainant. A councillor who does not give a complainant a seatand listen to his grievances, is not a “reasonable councillor” in Barotseeyes. In this way all the felt standards of the community, which are notthemselves matters of law, creep into the process of judgment, providinga flexibility of approach which enables a reconsideration of ancientstandards to meet the conditions of modern life. The concept of thereasonable man, a late introduction into the common law, gives it aflexibility which traditional African law has long enjoyed, and thecommon law has as yet no integrated concept of reasonableness.71 Weeramantry, An Invitation to the Law, pp. 35-36.152