Common law common sense v. Stupidity

Regular visitors to my blog will know that it is a rare occasion when I write blog entries - most of the time, my blog consists of links that take the reader to far and known places.

Hence, it is with much aplomb that I bestow upon the reader today the great honour of letting his* eyes feast on my delicious writings.

I can now officially boast of my first encounter with stupidity so pure that, if bottled and unleashed on the world, would cause degeneration of the brain faster than being left alone in a room with a television set and a George Bush** speech playing on it.

Now on with the show.

In our Foundations of Law seminar today, our teacher was explaining to us that Australia, like its American and Canadian counterparts, uses the common law legal system which is based on judicially decided cases. (Civil law systems, on the other hand, are based on codified Roman law and operate in many European countries.)

All was going just fine and dandy until a certain individual had the sheer brilliance to ask whether judges from one common law country could decide cases from another.

-_-"

To which the teacher, quite rightly so, replied with a firm no.

This individual, looking actually surprised and genuinely perplexed, then proceeded to ask why not.

-_-""

To which the teacher, quite rightly so again, replied that judges have no jurisdiction anywhere beyond that which the law of the country governs.

She then very wisely quickly pushed on to the rest of the seminar.

And these are the same individuals who are meant to reflect on the standard and calibre of a faculty supposedly on the same prestigious ranks as Medicine, and who will might graduate with a degree allowing them to practice and eventually become our legal representatives, should the need arise.

As a friend of mine put it, looks like common sense ain't so common after all. Well in some people at least.

Not a comforting thought.


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* Gender equality applies here.
** Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.