HAPPY EASTER

As you are now aware, my mother's family name is "Jermy" and there is a family Crest which is signified by a "Griffen". The Griffen signifies Christendom and the Jermy family were knights from the 12th Century to the 17th Century.

Wikipedia - Griffen (click here)

"Being a union of a terrestrial beast [lion] and an aerial bird [eagle], it was seen in Christendom to be a symbol of Jesus, who was both human and divine. As such it can be found sculpted on churches".

I was heartened to hear a discussion on the radio this morning about Pontius Pilate and his links to Perth in Scotland where he was born. As the most important judge in the world I started to think what if ADR had been around at the time of Christ. A settlement master/mediator would have used a confidentiality agreement to gag the proceedings and the populace would not have been able to know the issues, nor kill an innocent man. Therefore, "No Pontius Pilate, no Christ, no christianity". What would the world be like if these two individuals had never met.

Which set me off - Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. The Apple in jurisprudence that would symbolically be ADR. The apple presumably meant there was a child in the Garden of Eden and focus was on the child and not God - or at least that's my interpretation. I don't like to think they were banished. The Christian view of the Garden of Eden is self-restraint on freewill.

But ADR is outlawed in the United States, unfortunately, I don't know much more than this albeit think it relates to anti-trust (but don't quote me please do your own research)!

With Pontius Pilate there were 12 disciples, funny how law is referred to as a professional discipline - have we lost something in translation.

Which started me pondering 12 disciples = Christendom and Rome how does this transpose on society in terms of systems and methods - what is the pattern? Why 12?

Then there is Monarchy - there are 26 left I believe. Republics and Democracies - how many are there? I found this link to "liberalism" on Wikipedia which shows what has been occurring to the 20th/21st Centuries which makes for informative reading: Wikipedia - "Liberalism" (click here)

"In 1975, roughly 40 countries around the world were characterized as liberal democracies, but that number had increased to more than 80 as of 2008. Most of the world's richest and most powerful nations are liberal democracies with extensive social welfare programs."

I then started pondering about systems and methods again:

Greeks and democracy
Rome and republics and Catholicism and cardinals
America and the Senate and Congress
Europe and Supremacy and Directorate Generals
UK - Houses of Lord and Commons

Back to 12 disciples and St Peter and Rome

I am asking myself why are we regulated this way and how different are the systems and methods. Do they still fit the 21st Century and computerisation and digitisation. What are the procedures telling us about ourselves? What knowledge have we lost or need to re-learn from globalisation: knowledge may still exist but not in the places we would naturally look.

Then my eccentricity really kicked in - its the Age of Aquarius, astronomy used to be extremely important in philosophy and knowledge and instead of a law degree in 12 core topics, people would study whole subjects in more than one discipline in Greek or Hebrew or Latin as universal languages. I pondered did the stars have a significant function in process and procedure, system and method which is a direct discernible pattern between the heavens and the earth - and if so, what does it translate too on earth? Why do we do things the way we do them? Why do fishermen follow the north star? Whilst the Greeks had the zodiac, I don't mean the above in this sense, albeit there are 12 signs of the Greek Zodiac!!!! How often does 12 surface as a pattern, process and procedure? 12 core topics in law!!! Paring back to the simplist form, the skeleton of the process, can be as illuminating and aesethetic. Eg, we have a European Parliament, a UK Westminster Parliament, and a devolved Scottish, Irish and Welsh Parliament, but the line management skeleton is not correct as England is not yet devolved! The European Skeleton is very beautiful, I think and simple. Yet, America has a disunited states of America in its legal makeup, as laws are different state to state - so how are they united?

With the reforms under New Labour, the House of Lords is to become an elected chamber and it is no longer to be a birthright to such high office. But I am wondering why is it a problem? Those with this birthright had usually had the best tutoring, had the best professional advantage and presumably want to do their best for themselves and the rest of us as country/nation. Why is there an issue? If the reforms that are coming, what model is being used, what pattern, is it done elsewhere? Are we doing something new or creative? What if it does not work? The first round removed some pretty impressive CV's even, I believe, a person fluent in Japanese and 7 other languages as well as being a professional banker - hard to replicate let alone replace I would have thought? On this blog, I volunteered to be the "virtual" person on the vacant Woolsack whilst laws are being made from the Despatch Box, at least since 1999. Could we have a "virtual" House of the plebiscite as well as a House of Lords made up of nobles and plebes. Liberalisation appears to be anything you want to create so long as you are a plebe doing it!!

Well I have travelled along way from the radio program on Pontius Pilate this morning - there really should be a centre of Jurisprudence somewhere, with whatsoever artifacts that can be located about Pontius Pilate placed amongst the good and the great in Jurisprudence in Europe or the UK/Scotland - Judges, lawyers, barristers and others should have some reason to be remembered - there is a Lord Denning society I believe for the "equity's darling" case perhaps! And whilst ADR is an OPPOSITE and should be located outside of the judiciary and legal profession to compete only, we should socially include Lord Woolf and Lord Mackay of Clashfern for being the two *"£$%* who put in place a concept that undermines the rule of law. Pontius Pilate would presumably be turning in his grave, not washing his hands and leaving the plebiscite to do their worst! We perhaps could also have a Pontius Pilate day or week, where there is an amnesty of sorts as an oomph to settle cases and where accurate statistics could show how judges are speedily dispensing with their cases via settlement or judgment, with bar charts of how long cases are taking to judgment by each judge, so as to dispense with procedural nonsense and to enable a more human side to the judiciary to establish over time. If the courts were more virtual, then stat gathering would be quite simple, and could actually show that there is a need for more judges, or courts ensuring proper regulation of society which is their social function.
What the Woolf Report really did (is anti-Christian) - Access to Justice Table (click here)

Christendom. Happy Easter