2023-09-18
Legally speaking, the idea of human dignity is quite a modern one. In most previous societies including those of the countries in South Asia, the idea of the dignity of the people did not exist as a fundamental notion in the political or legal jargon. This was the case also in Sri Lanka, particularly in the period from around 800 Anno Domini till about the 19th Century where the prevalent mode of social organisation was that of the caste system within which there was no idea at all of the dignity of the people.
The application of the English word ‘dignity’ to people as a whole began with the transformations of societies from monarchies to modern republics. ‘Dignitas’ was the term used for those small groups of privileged classes that dominated over most societies. The British and the French Revolutions centred around the notion of delegitimising that notion of dignity to some small group of people who are privileged and held positions of high status to the population as a whole. The dignity in the democratic revolutions was applied for everyone so that the whole political system began to be based on the notion of the dignity of everyone.
The idea of the dignity of everyone and equality are concepts which are interlinked. Without dignity, there cannot be equality. Without the recognition of equality in all matters relating to the treatment of the people, there cannot be dignity. Thus, modern democratic notions are deeply rooted in the twin concepts of dignity and equality.
This transformation which happened in the political power, i.e. the transfer of power from the monarchy to a republic, the representatives of the people was the foundation on which the idea of the dignity of the court also has its roots. The idea of the sovereignty of the people meant that they exercised the ultimate power which is exercised through the Executive, the Legislature as well as the Judiciary. This notion of the power of the courts being derived from the sovereignty of the people is also included in the Constitution of Sri Lanka.
Read more: https://www.themorning.lk/articles/3hvJWC44OqCglqB0ApLe