Law and the society

In this week’s Crime Watch, Acting Principal Magistrate Kumba Sillah Camara of the Bundung Magistrates’ Court enlightens us more about the meaning of law, its relations with society and the causes of crimes among the youths.

A society is a group of humans characterised by patterns of relationships between individuals who may share a distinctive culture and institutions while law is a system of rules a society sets to maintain order and prevent harm to persons and properties.

According to Acting Principal Magistrate Kumba Sillah Camara, law is a body of rules guiding human conduct, which is of course guided by sanctions. Most laws are codified.
No society can do without law, and most countries have as many as hundreds of thousands of pages of law.

Laws are enforced in the society by the police, supported by the court and prison systems. It is important to know that the law must uphold and not contradict the constitution - a document outlining the most basic rules of the country.

There are many categories of law. We have company law, contract law, criminal law, constitutional law, and civil law. Principal Magistrate Kumba Sillah maintains that each of these sets the rules for a distinct area of human activity.

Criminal cases are handled by the state. They are quite different from civil cases which are between two individuals. Civil cases can even be solved out of court. In criminal cases, individuals have no right to withdraw.  This can only be done by the prosecution. That is to say that it is the state that can withdraw such cases.
This must be based on cogent reason(s). Section 68 of the CPC Section 1 states that it should be done  with consent of the court.

Expounding on the necessity and need for law in the society, Mrs Kumba Sillah Camara said laws are guidelines that are set out regulate behaviour that has been developed over time.

The only difference between animals and human beings is the law. If there is no law guiding human beings, there will be lawlessness, intolerance, anarchy, and chaos. In fact there will be no peace. Law is more than necessity because without laws people will trample on each other’s right.

The law is there not only to curb but to guide and protect the society. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse. Despite the fact that the society is well enlightened about the law; there is still need for more sensitization about the law through workshops, electronic and print media, and so on.