International Law

The Boston Globe has an interesting short article by Shahan Mufti on the idea of Justice becoming a rallying cry in the Muslim world.  This is interesting from the view of law — to the extent at least that it is often equated with justice (though not necessarily so), and here justice may also be of a more social nature (a concept which law, in some contexts, may have abandoned).  In any event, justice seems to be a more fluid concept (as the article notes it can have religious, anti-corruption, etc. overtones) and perhaps a desire for “justice” is more widespread than a desire for “democracy”, at least at it is defined by the West.  

Of course the struggle of lawyers in Pakistan is a good example of how concepts of fairness and justice can be real motivating forces for change.  In some ways perhaps people can adjust to different systems, situations and forms of government, at least until enough people perceive of things as being unjust or unfair.  Democracy of course can play a role in this but that is not always the case and perhaps putting reform in semantic boxes (”democracy” or “freedom”) for sale may be less effective.

Of course, one’s concept of what is just may not comport with another’s; the justice sought by religious leaders may be very different than those sought by civil servants.  But that is a whole different issue.  In any event, an interesting read and worth thinking about, especially for those engaged in rule of law reform.