Violence, involving the use of weapons, in the midst of human society, poses a challenge to the rule of law. When people feel their lives or property are threatened, they begin to lose confidence in the administrative machinery and the justice mechanism.

The rule of law and building confidence in morals, civic laws, and traditional customs can help prevent violence.

Weakness in observing the rule of law and morality can ratchet up injustice and violence in human society. Losing confidence in the justice system leads to communities sliding towards violence and anarchy.

Man-made laws have been designed to provide security to the people. But, no law is perfect. We have to amend it as time passes, in keeping with the demands of the situation.

Public trust in people who are working in the justice sector will be eroded if officials use the law to further their own interests, failing to uphold justice without favour, not performing their work efficiently, and lacking expertise.

Only when the rule of law and justice is implemented efficiently will citizens gain confidence in courts conducting a fair and impartial trial.

This is sine qua non for long-term social and democratic stability. There is no need and there is no excuse for people to resort to vigilantism or to take the law into their own hands.

Fuelled by a strong desire for justice, our ancestors struggled against colonialists. And, the hunger for justice has led to revolutions in successive eras.

The rule of law and the judicial system must be transparent and must guarantee a level playing field for foreign investment, which can drive our country’s development.

To underpin the rule of law and the judicial system, we need to improve the court system and the machinery of the rule of law, with a focus on eliminating corruption, improved legal training for professionals, and availability of legal counsel for the indigent.

We would like to encourage people to help uphold the rule of law and cooperate with the judicial system. All government institutions and departments must work seriously and diligently, not as a response to complaints or suggestions from the people, but out of a sense of duty and responsibility.-GNLM