Justice & civil liberties

Justice think pieces

Written by Dr Eamonn Butler
Tuesday, 09 November 2004
If you want to get rich, you need economic growth. To create economic growth, you need people to be creative, to produce things, and to bring them to market and exchange them. But producing and creating things needs investment - education, training, buying capital equipment, and so on. That's risky, because your business may not work and you could lose money. But if you have no secure rights over your own property, it's suicidal. That is why you need property rights and the rule of law. Property rights are the rules on ownership, use, and transference. It's not just physical property like land - it could be rights like licences to develop something, hunting or fishing permits, and many other things. These are property, and their use is protected by formal laws like contract laws and property titles, but also by informal rules of custom and tradition. And those take time to build up. Sometimes centuries. Read More

Time for competition in police services?

Written by Blog Editor
Saturday, 01 January 2000
The police might think it important to arrest those who use force to defend their property, or to enforce motoring laws such as speed limits, or to offer counselling to crime victims, but these are rated the least important priorities by the general public, according to the Adam Smith Institute's MORI poll, published as The Wrong Package. Read More

Alternatives to outdated court systems

All over the world, public court systems are under pressure. This can mean lengthy delays for litigants, which increases the worry, frustration, and cost for both sides in a dispute.

More Articles...

Competing for convicts?

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Words of wisdom

"If [justice] is removed, the great, the immense fabric of human society... must in a moment crumble into atoms."

The Theory of Moral Sentiments, part II, section II, ch. III

"Little else is requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism, but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice: all the rest being brought about by the natural course of things."

Lecture in 1755

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