Judge Marilyn Warren Chief Justice in the Supreme Court of Victoria in her keynote address at the Judicial Conference of Australia Colloquium said, that if lawyers fail to observe their duty to the courts, then they do their clients an injustice.
Quote:"....an officer of the court concerned in the administration of justice[a legal practitioner]has an overriding duty to the court,to the standards of his profession,and to the public... Rondel v Worsley [1969] 1AC 191, 227 Lord Reid".Unquote.
...the lawyers obligation then Judge Warren went on to say, is to apply the rule of law Quote:"...to assist the court in the doing of justice according to law". Unquote.
It must follow on from that without the application of the rule of law there can be no justice... a clients perception of indifference, negligence, laissez-faire... a state of anarchy. And so it seems with psychiatry... the client/patient Garth Daniels... the involuntary detainee who despite the rule of law finds himself in a state of anarchy. Detained in a forensic facility contrary to the rule of law...falsely imprisoned.
Is it simply a state of anarchy... a marked indifference, a laissez-faire? Is it a question of I'm alright it does'nt affect me? Think again!!!!
It does not seem that long ago an infamous politician suggested that lawyers who assist citizens in challenging the State are nothing but "imbeciles" and "charlatans"...we are not sure what he said about psychiatry. However, we must shudder to contemplate such a suggestion yet again for that infamous politician's name was Adolf Hitler.
"For evil to prevail it takes a few good men to do nothing",an adaptation from Edmund Burke
