THERE is an old joke about a judge in the Wild West who tells an accused gunslinger: “In this town, you gets a fair trial and a fair hangin’.”
The gag has contemporary resonance for those seeking to see Somali piracy suspects brought to justice.
Somalia is the living exemplar of the situation the great English political philosopher Hobbes hypothesised from well over 300 years ago. Law and order comes rough and ready, if at all.
So there is no point in international navies handing pirates caught in flagrante back to their home country. While flag states could bring them to trial, they have, with the partial exception of the US, been unwilling to so for political reasons.
Instead, the west has struck a deal with the Kenyan authorities for judicial process to take place in a neighbouring country. How that stacks up in international law is well beyond a journalist’s paygrade and must be a matter for the lawyers.
But Kenya’s legal system is imperfect, with evidence that judges can be bribed, for instance. Even if that were not so, piracy suspects are as entitled to the basics of a fair trial as anyone else, including legal representation.
Counterintuitive as it might seem, Lloyd’s List welcomes the news that a high-profile human rights barrister is planning to act for the accused on a pro-bono basis. Of course we want the bad guys banged up. But justice must be seen to be done.
