Joseph Brodsky Quotes

The day must come when the rule of law replaces emergency decrees an when the independent judiciary replace arbitrary justice.

The rule of law is the basis for any democracy. And without the rule of law in democracy, you have chaos.

Trial by jury, the best of all safeguards for the person, the property, and the fame of every individual.

Legal process is an essential part of the democratic process.

Trial by jury of facts where they arise is one of the greatest securities of the lives, liberties and estates of the people.

The ancient mode of trial by jury ... ought to remain sacred and inviolable.

There should be no political prisoners in a democratic country.

To threaten the institution is to threaten fair administration of justice and protection of liberty.

We are not in the regime of Aurangzeb. We are in the regime of rule of law. When rule of law is concerned, it applies to government, it applies to Supreme Court, it applies to everybody.

It is more dangerous that even a guilty person should be punished without the forms of law than that he should escape.

Well, one of the first things is to restore the rule of law, to place the government back under the cage of law. Another thing is to stop falling for the myth of democracy.

Yes, people need food and education. But one of the cornerstones of any society is a well-functioning legal system.

True freedom requires the rule of law and justice, and a judicial system in which the rights of some are not secured by the denial of rights to others.

Some may remember, if you have good memories, that there used to be a concept in Anglo-American law called a presumption of innocence, innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Now that's so deep in history that there's no point even bringing it up, but it did once exist.

It is during our most challenging and uncertain moments that our nation's commitment to due process is most severely tested; and it is in those times that we must preserve our commitment at home to the principles for which we fight abroad

Freedom depends upon something. The rule of law.

Such a trial is not only unlawful but is a gross blunder in policy. It denies the great, fundamental principle, that ours is a government of Law, and that the law is strong enough to rule the people wisely and well.

The highest test of a people's fitness for free institutions is their willingness to obey law.

In our country the law of the strong does not prevail. The strength of the law prevails.

Ultimately, the best guarantor of the rule of law is not the state and the branches which comprise it but the recognition by people of its value and their willingness to fight for, and uphold it.

Why do we love this trial by jury? Because it prevents the hand of oppression from cutting you off.

The prosecutor has more control over life, liberty, and reputation than any other person in America.

China has not established the rule of law and thus there is no justice.

No Free-man shall be taken or imprisoned, or be deprived of his Free-hold or liberty… but by the lawful judgment of his peers, and by the Laws of this province.

It cannot be too clearly understood that this is not a free country, and it will be an evil day for the legal profession when it is.