Author: Ruth Roberts

My favorite fictional character, and professional role model, Rumpole of the Bailey, was notorious for quoting at length from Shakespeare, and the classics. It is often a guilty pleasure of mine. How better to express all the grandeur and tragedy and nuance of humanity, than through the golden eloquence of some of the greatest writers of all time? They were able to distill overwhelming events into understandable and manageable paragraphs; they were able to poignantly sum up human emotion, so it became somehow contained. And so, in these times that have so tried our souls, the words of the Bard are more needed than ever.

Anyone who practices law has heard the phrase “let’s kill all the lawyers” countless times, not always kindly. But we should take pride in that phrase, because arguably that was the rallying cry for people who wanted to overturn democracy. Democracy is based squarely on the Rule of Law – it is the very underpinning of our society. Our laws are made by our elected politicians, responding to the ebbs and flows of communal values. If you want to see how our society has changed, look no further than the Criminal Code of Canada. Not that many years ago, homosexuality was a criminal offence. It was illegal to possess or use marijuana. It was legal to drink and drive. As society’s values have changed, so have many of the laws used to reflect and protect those values. The accused’s right to full answer and defence, and to know the case against them? The State’s disclosure obligations have only fully expanded within about the last 60 years. Many accused went to trial, not fully knowing the case against them. The right to remain silent when charged? To be secure against unlawful search and seizure? To have a trial within a reasonable time? Those are all relatively new protected rights. And those rights and obligations are argued, and protected and interpreted by lawyers and judges. Every day, somewhere in Canada, lawyers are challenging legislation, arguing caselaw, making the State justify its incursions into people’s lives. No matter what laws and legislation governments pass, those laws and legislation are scrutinized in the context of the law at the time. And some of them are struck down.

There is a miraculous fluidity to law. Like a willow tree, it bends and moves, but its roots go deep into the heart of what we believe are our society’s values. No one, not any single person, no matter how rich or powerful, is above the law. Want anarchy? First, kill all the lawyers.