The Gazette 1971

it is also a means of livelihood. Its function is to defend

and promote the existing legal order, the purpose of

which is to secure the administration of Justice.

The quest of justice

Justice is the supreme goal which gives meaning

and value to the structure and functioning of society.

The quest of Justice is the preservation of the dignity

of the person in a free society. There is no enterprise

more arduous, and none more noble than this perpetual

quest.

Law is a means by which society works out its

purpose. Its progress is shaped by accepting standards

of right conduct. No man's rights are safe until all

man's rights are respected. Freedom is not the power

of doing what we like, but of doing what we ought.

Civilisation, if it means anything, recognises a moral

order that keeps man's evil impulses in check.

The public good requires the constant search for

and adherence to fundamental principles of moral im-

port to which even the assertion of private rights must

be subordinated. To accept a doubtful doctrine is to

legitimise it, and to give it a life of its own to be used

by those who practice the exploitation of misunder-

standing in the conduct of public debate. Who is better

strategically placed than die lawyer to act as inter-

preter, catalyst and builder in the agonising search

for values which pervades our society to-day?

Lawyers have a long tradition of involvement and of

leadership in the great issues of every era. We cannot

ignore the causes that bear upon justice and order. On

a cornice on the Palais de Justice, high above the Seine,

are inscribed the words "Hora fugit, stat jus" ("Time

flies, the law remains").

Every generation needs inspiration and a renewal

of courage. "Where there is no vision, the people

perish" (Book of Proverbs). 1 am convinced that it is our

profession to which posterity must look for the pre-

servation of what is beneficient and cohesive in our

society. To-morrow, you will assume the responsibility

that is ours to-day. Let it not be said of you, as regret-

fully it may be said of us, "the hungry sheep look up

and are not fed".

Meticulous and conscientious dedication

It is, of course, one thing to express lofty sentiments.

It is quite another to translate them into practice. It

is not given to every architect to build Coventry

Cathedral, nor is it given to every lawyer to participate

in far-reaching decisions of fundamental concern to

the community. The major principles of the law have,

however, their roots firmly implanted in the humdrum

day-to-day dealings of human beings, and have their

origins, indeed their only justification, in meeting the

ordinary needs of ordinary people. What may appear

to be unspectacular, is the heart and nerve and sinew

of the legal profession. The causes and issues with

which the lawyer deals in the course of his daily

activities, however small, are of supreme importance to

someone. It is meticulous and conscientious dedication

to the common place task that provides the true

evangelism whereby the esteem and prestige of the

legal system is to be seen and made manifest. Nothing

can so enhance the image of the lawyer as the appreci-

ation of a task well done, motivated only by the

lawyer's dedication to perfection in the performance

of his obligation to his client.

Confidence in the administration of Justice is

essential to maintain the fabric of ordered society.

Inefficiency and delay may drain even a just judgement

of its value. The practice of the law calls for a quality

of character which is able to reconcile a natural desire

to make money, with subservience to the clients'

interests.

Lawyers are compelled to consider the complexity of

life more than most others. As a living thing, the law

has been and will continue to be concerned with

change. Law must be stable, yet it cannot stay still.

You will need to understand the role of the law, not

just as it bears on your professional lives, but as it

reflects the values of our society and responds to the

true changes in those values. It is fallacious to think

of lawyers as guardians of tradition — rather they are

guardians and watchdogs of orderly change.

The achievements of science and technology are awe-

some in their reach and promise. In simpler conditions

of social life, difficulties were not great, but the wealth

of knowledge which science has made available has

disclosed ways of doing new things and new ways of

doing old things. In elucidating facts for assessment of

their legal significance, the lawyer must investigate

many highly-refined technical factors in order to deter-

mine cause and effect. You will from time to time have

to assimilate and comprehend many technical matters

unfamiliar to you, and to re-explain them to other

non-scientific minds. You will have to defend scientific

theories from purely logical attack, and you will have

to learn how to distinguish between opinions formed

and the ground for forming them.

The rule of law

There is another area which may cause you much

concern. The rule of law once meant that no one is

above the law. It offered protection of the law against

the use of arbitrary power. To-day, it is a more com-

plex concept. It has required a larger meaning and has

become recognised as a dynamic concept which should

be employed not only to safeguard and advance civil

and political rights of individuals in a free society,

but also to establish social, economic, educational and

cultural conditions under which the legitimate aspir-

ations and dignity of each man may be fully realised.

For those who lack minimum standards of education

and economic security fundamental rights may seem a

shadow rather than a substance. The only man who

fully understands his problem is the poor man. He

hasn't enough and he wants more.

Bureaucracy tends to regard the rights of human

beings as something not to be considered outside the

prerogative of government and to treat the understand-

ing of human rights as a governmental concept. It is

the lawyer's pride and privilege to resist this develop-

ment. Law and the exercise of arbitrary power are in

perpetual enmity.

Law the guardian of justice and liberty

It is, however, also incumbent upon the legal order to

have regard to the claim of every individual to have

access to the minimum material means whereby he can

take advantage of spiritual and political freedom. This

calls for critical examination of the conduct not only of

those who wield formal authority, but also of the

pressure groups and corporate concentrates that exert

effective control over the making of important societal

decisions. In the course of your day-to-day activities,

you will be interpreting the law which creates and

regulates these phenomena, and increasingly so, as the

years go on. You will be advising clients caught in

the upsurge of these events, and if your voice is not

heard in protest as the machine spreads the spirit of

pervasive anonymity engulfing each man's individuality

in a totality that does not care, can you complain if

you are labelled as "the apostles of things as they were."

The tradition of law which you are expected to up-