Rules of procedure used vs truth

Are we afraid to know that truth may be more than what we believe it is?

The fact is that the human mind invents ways to evade the truth. Thus, in law, we have “rules of procedure” which allow invention that only creates confusion. This makes the pursuit of truth a difficult problem. Thus lawyers are able to confuse an issue just to score a “point of order.” The point of course is, if justice must be served, judges must see through any attempt at deception, especially by “experts at law.”

So much time is wasted during trials because of semantics. Do our seasoned lawyers give in to the urge to be “clever”? The fact is that, in court trials, many lawyers give in to this urge, thus losing the wisdom to discern and uphold the spirit of truth and, at the same time, making a mockery of the proceedings. Is it any wonder that our system of justice is selective such that it even encourages so much social inequality and disharmony? Indeed, too much of mental calisthenics makes for spiritual insensitivity.

For example, the rule on “self-incrimination” stops the truth from surfacing. It encourages lying. If you are clean, why keep the truth to yourself? The right against self-incrimination sounds like an admission of guilt. Indeed, we have diverted into the wrong path. Shall we encourage the denial of our own mistakes? Are we not all required “to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”?

We must realize that many errors are made in the name of “tradition.” The fact is it’s difficult to free ourselves from our delusions—which must be done before we can discern the spirit of truth.

—ERNESTO KELLY MAGTOTO,

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