A World Indifferent to the Law

In today’s world, almost everyone talks about the law; yet the world’s problem is not the absence of laws. Rather, the problem is that the law often loses its importance when compared with power.

Governments have constitutions, sign international treaties, establish national and international courts, and defend justice and human rights in official declarations. Yet when the enforcement of the law conflicts with the political or security interests of a major power, the political discourse suddenly changes. What one person considers a “violation of the law” may be described by another as “necessity,” “national security,” or “exceptional circumstances.”

This raises the fundamental question: If the law is not the same for everyone, what determines the boundary between law and power? The law, as long as it does not challenge power.

In relations between countries, the law has always faced a fundamental problem: its enforcement is not as independent from power as it should be.

A country may face sanctions, political condemnation, or widespread pressure for violating international law, while another country engaging in similar behavior may experience a completely different response. The reason for this difference is not always legal. Sometimes a country’s political position, economic power, military importance, or role in global affairs determines how the world responds to its actions.

This undermines the credibility of the law.

If the law is applied only to those who cannot defend themselves, it can no longer be considered just.

Silence can also be political!

Indifference to the law does not always mean an outright rejection of it. Sometimes it is silence.

Sometimes governments criticize something without taking any serious action. Sometimes international institutions issue warnings, but those warnings remain merely declarations. Sometimes the world responds to a crisis with sensitivity for a short period, but as soon as the news cycle changes, everything is forgotten.

Under such circumstances, the victim faces not only the violation of their rights, but also the feeling of being forgotten.

A law that exists only on paper but is not enforced when necessary cannot create trust.

Why Do People Become Indifferent?

The problem does not concern governments alone.

Society also gradually loses its sense of justice when it repeatedly witnesses the unequal application of the law. People may conclude that the law is strict for ordinary citizens but lenient toward the powerful.

This perception, even if it is not always correct, can be dangerous.

Because a society that loses its faith in justice no longer sees the law as a universal principle, but as a means of controlling the weak.

Law without justice is merely order.

There is a fundamental difference between “law” and “order.”

A society can have many laws and still be unjust. Everything may proceed according to the law, yet the laws themselves may be applied unequally.

Therefore, the fundamental question is not, “Does the law exist?”

The more important question is, “Is the law applied equally to everyone?”

If the answer is “no,” the problem is not the absence of law, but the absence of justice in its enforcement.

The world needs law, not merely the language of law.

The world needs law more than ever; but not a law that is respected only in words. Law becomes meaningful when it can also limit power.

When an ordinary citizen cannot escape the law, but a powerful government can evade responsibility through political, economic, or military influence, the gap between law and justice grows wider.

The world cannot speak of equality while ignoring inequality in the enforcement of the law.

Therefore, the main problem is not the law itself.

The question is who enforces the law, against whom, and whether people will continue to abide by it when enforcing it carries political costs.

Perhaps this is the greatest legal crisis of our time: everyone talks about the law, but not everyone is prepared to pay the price of enforcing it.

And when this happens, indifference to the law is no longer an individual or political behavior; it becomes a global culture.

In such a world, the danger is not only breaking the law.

The greater danger is that breaking the law will no longer surprise anyone.

Gouya Roshan — All Rights Reserved