WHEN THE COURTS ENFORCES INJUSTICE II

By P.L. Osakwe

■ INTRODUCTION

Courts are meant to be the last refuge of the oppressed. They are where the weak should find strength, and where the citizen stands equal to the state. Yet, paradoxically, courts can also become the very instruments of injustice.
When judges are bound by the strict text of the law, or by the weight of legislative command, they sometimes enforce rules that harm the very people they are sworn to protect. This does not happen because judges are cruel or careless. It happens because of the structure of legal systems: the duty to obey enacted law, even when that law cuts against conscience.
This article explores how courts, in seeking to be faithful to law, often end up betraying justice.

■ The Machinery of Enforcement
The first thing to understand is that courts are not lawmakers; they are enforcers. Their mandate is to interpret the law, not create it. In this sense, they are like the gears of a machine, carrying out what legislatures and constitutions prescribe.
But machines have no conscience. And when the law fed into the machine is unjust, the outcome is predictable: injustice delivered with legal authority.
For the citizen who suffers, the pain is doubled: not only are they hurt by the law, but they are told it is lawful.

■ Neutrality or Complicity?
Some argue that courts must be neutral, that their role is not to ask whether a law is fair, but whether it is valid. But neutrality is not the same as justice. A judge who enforces a harsh statute against a struggling citizen may claim neutrality, but in reality, they have chosen to side with power over fairness.
Neutrality, when law is unjust, becomes complicity. By applying an oppressive law, the court does not merely wash its hands; it lends legitimacy to oppression.

■ The Hidden Weight of Precedent.
The burden becomes heavier when precedent is involved. If the highest court has already declared a law binding, every lower court must follow suit, even if the outcome is harsh. This chain reaction creates a pyramid of injustice: one decision at the top cascades down to every courtroom in the land.
For the ordinary citizen, it does not matter that a judge sighs, regrets, or even sympathises. What matters is that the gavel falls, and it falls in the name of injustice.

■ The Human Cost of Legal Obedience.
What does it mean, when courts enforce unjust laws?
1. It means families lose homes because statutes give them no protection.
2. It means workers are denied wages because legislation prioritises employers.
3. It means citizens bear burdens, of tax, of punishment, of exclusion, that law imposes without mercy.

Each of these outcomes may be lawful. Yet, each leaves a scar that is moral, not legal.
For the victims, the pain is not abstract. It is hunger, loss, despair. And when they cry out for justice, the court replies: “Our hands are tied by the law.”

■ Why This Matters.
The danger of courts enforcing injustice is not only that individuals suffer. It is that faith in the entire system erodes. When people see courts upholding laws that crush them, they stop believing in courts altogether. They turn away from legal remedies and towards other means, sometimes dangerous, sometimes violent.
A legal system loses its authority not when people break the law, but when people stop believing the law is just.

■ The Double-Edged Sword of Legality.
It is true that courts cannot pick and choose which laws to enforce. A system where judges ignore statutes at will would collapse into chaos. Yet, a system where judges apply unjust laws without question collapses into oppression.
This is the double-edged sword of legality: it preserves order, but it can also preserve injustice.

■ Conclusion: The Gavel’s Shadow.
Courts are the guardians of justice, but they are also captives of law. When the law is just, this dual role works perfectly. When the law is unjust, it creates a tragedy: courts, meant to protect the weak, become enforcers of their suffering.
This paradox should concern not only judges, but all of society. For when the gavel falls, it does not only strike the case before the court, it echoes across the conscience of the nation.