HAPPY NEW YEAR

31/12/2009

Today is the last day of this year. A new year will begin tomorrow. This is stating the obvious. Or is it?

Year as you know is defined as the time taken by the earth to go round the sun once. So who fixes the starting point? In fact it could be at any point on the elliptical course. Different societies have tried to mark it with some important events in their history or with some recurring astronomical events like equinox.

In fact 1^st of January does not mark any such event celestial or otherwise. 1^st of January it self has been moved to different days a few times. The beginning of the year was brought forward by 82 days in England and its colonies in year 1752, Scots did this half a century earlier. There was a good suggestion in 1840 by Auguste Comte to make a year 364 days long then give a universal day off and then start the year from next day. In this way at least the New Year will start on the same day every year and with a bit of adjustment it could start always on a Sunday. Though it was more rational, it was not adopted.

Anyway my point is that if 1^st of January does not have a birth right to be the beginning of the year then why there is such a mass hysteria around it? It is just an event for the government and institutions to calculate their profits and losses.

I think everyone should have their own starting points and what is better than to start at the beginning. Yes, your birthday should be the starting point. You will be a year older at the end of a year, not half or three quarters of a year older as it happens at present. It will be your year and yours only.
And if you turn out to be a great dictator who rules over most of the influential world it may be adopted by everyone else!
Happy new year to you all.

WHY SHOULD YOU NEED A LAWYER?

18 December 2009


I have not posted any blog for 4 weeks as I was in India visiting relatives and friends along with a bit of sight seeing.


On my flight back from Mumbai I read “the associate” written by John Grisham. It gave a glimpse of inner workings of a big law firm. Of course it is a work of fiction and the writer has taken the usual liberties to suit the plot. But I really wonder, as a society why we need a private lawyer. I do understand that a civilised society needs to lay down some rules i.e. laws to function properly. There is a need for law makers, law enforcers and judges who can adjudicate in case of disputes. Law schools can produce this entire workforce.


If someone does wrong or perceived to have done wrong, the case goes before a judge. He/she should decide one way or the other taking all the evidence and legal angles into consideration. Where is the need for a lawyer? Now a day you need a lawyer to argue your case and point out the holes in the opposition’s case. This should be done by the judge or judges without any intermediary (the lawyers). Certainly you will need many more judges to do this and this is where the lawyers should be employed. The independence of judges and judiciary is paramount for this to be successful. But is not this what we should strive for as a society rather than spend a lot of money and effort on private lawyers who make the delivery of justice so expensive and slow?


I will give you an analogy. A patient takes a private doctor to see the specialist surgeon in the hospital? The private doctor will present patient’s case to the specialist and argue about different treatments for a few months before the surgeon makes the diagnosis and provides the treatment. This will make good business for doctors and make the health care really expensive and slow. A patient who can hire a good advocate doctor will get better treatment. And a good advocate doctor will earn more than the specialist surgeon. Nothing in health care will be done without employing a lot of advocate doctors. I am sure no one will like to have such a health system. Then why do we have similar legal system.


I must make it clear that my rants are against the legal system not against the lawyers. I am sure my brother in law who is a lawyer, understands this and the peace in my family continues.


Glance through this really amusing poem “one million lawyers by Tom Paxton” http://www.julianhermida.com/algoma/law1classactivities.htm