Thursday, November 10, 2005
Several days ago a case came by at the office. It wasn't our case, but it was an interesting case from a friend. What happened was the following.
My friend got a fine from the police after he parked on a place where it was illegal to park. The yellow line on the curbstone showed that it wasn't allowed to park your car there. Though my friend didn't agree with the fine he got from the police.
My friend lives in a appartment and always parks his car very close to the flat. The owner of the apartment doesn't want him parking next to the building. He prefers that he parks in the garage which is underneath the apartment. But, as my friend is quite stubborn, he takes no notice to the request of the owner of the building.
Tuesday morning my friend sees the owner of the apartment drawing a yellow line on the curbstones, exactly at the place where my friend normally parks the car. Aware that the traffic signs (the yellow line) has been created by the owner of the flat, my friend decides to park anyhow on his usual parking spot. In the evening he sees that the police has fined him for parking illegally.
Reading the traffic regulations, one should obey the traffic signs. But what if the traffic sign has been created by a appartment owner instead by government officials. The court ruled that traffic signs - albeit - illegally made, should be obeyed! This might be seen as unfair, but there is some logic in this: if one can not trust the traffic signs whether they are made by the government or somebody else, complete chaos will start.
My point is: law is not aimed to be fair or just: it is only regulating behaviours between people. No more, no less.
My friend got a fine from the police after he parked on a place where it was illegal to park. The yellow line on the curbstone showed that it wasn't allowed to park your car there. Though my friend didn't agree with the fine he got from the police.
My friend lives in a appartment and always parks his car very close to the flat. The owner of the apartment doesn't want him parking next to the building. He prefers that he parks in the garage which is underneath the apartment. But, as my friend is quite stubborn, he takes no notice to the request of the owner of the building.
Tuesday morning my friend sees the owner of the apartment drawing a yellow line on the curbstones, exactly at the place where my friend normally parks the car. Aware that the traffic signs (the yellow line) has been created by the owner of the flat, my friend decides to park anyhow on his usual parking spot. In the evening he sees that the police has fined him for parking illegally.
Reading the traffic regulations, one should obey the traffic signs. But what if the traffic sign has been created by a appartment owner instead by government officials. The court ruled that traffic signs - albeit - illegally made, should be obeyed! This might be seen as unfair, but there is some logic in this: if one can not trust the traffic signs whether they are made by the government or somebody else, complete chaos will start.
My point is: law is not aimed to be fair or just: it is only regulating behaviours between people. No more, no less.
