Ignorance of the Law is No Defence
Copyright © 2021 By Yusuf Shehu Usman
Away from security issues, I think that the axiom which states that ignorance of the “law is not a defence” needs to be more critically interrogated and redefined to bring it in consonance with common sense and a fair sense of justice, equity, and good conscience.
As the axiom is couched, it appears to be too presumptuous and dangerously generalised to fit into the realities of our times. It places a burden or imputes on the citizens the onerous responsibility to know every law or regulation passed by the legislature.
It is unfair, as it impracticable in real life for even the lawyers who make a living out of practising the law or even the legislators who enact them for the guidance of the society, to claim or ascribe to themselves knowledge of all the laws in the statute books.
I reckon that it is a fact that even God who created us and laid down spiritual laws to regulate our affairs, does not punish anyone for violating His laws unless and until He sends messengers to expound the laws and bring them to the knowledge and awareness of people whose affairs the law is intended to regulate. It is a trite fact that God does not punish violaters of the law until the law has been brought to their knowledge.
I also remember a statement that is credited to Chief Justice Abbott: “God forbid that it should be imagined, that an attorney, or a counsel, or even a judge, is bound to know all the law.”
Therefore, if even lawyers are not in expected to know all the laws, how reasonable is it to assume that non-lawyers (members of the public) should know all the laws?
Where would we place the illiterate members of our society (and they are in the majority in some societies) who cannot even read the law, let alone understand its purport?
Is it fair, just, or reasonable to impute to them the knowledge of something they are incapable of understanding?
I think this axiom should not be used as an object of injustice and oppression of members of the society.
Editor’s Note
Edited by Dr. Leesi Ebenezer Mitee
Publisher & Editor-in-chief, Human Right of Free Access to Public Legal Information Advocacy website
The Human Right of Free Access to Public Legal Information Advocacy (HURAPLA) promotes the right of free access to all categories of law and law-related public legal information globally, which include the following: primary legislation (statute law or statutory law); secondary legislation (subsidiary legislation, subsidiary instruments, delegated legislation), administrative memoranda, and executive orders; decisions and judgments of all levels of courts and tribunals from all the tiers of government (local, state or regional, and federal or national); legislative bills, resolutions, and other public documents directly related to the law-making function of the legislature; value-added publications that aid understanding and navigation of laws, e.g. annotations, summaries, indexes, and digests; decisions and judgments of regional and international courts; regional and international legal instruments (treaties, conventions, protocols, resolutions, declarations, etc.); and the comments, reports, and other documents on matters relating to regional and international legal instruments. HURAPLA website also contains the Global Human Right of Free Access to Law Discussion Group for Citizen Legal Education and the Professional Legal Network and the International Legal Directory of Lawyers, Law Firms, and Law Lecturers (Legal Academics, Law Teachers, and Law Professors).