Rakusho no Goku #21
2011.05.30(Mon)Juuni Kokuki — 十二国記
(The Twelve Kingdoms)
Rakusho no Goku — 落照の獄
(A jail of the declining Light)
By Ono Fuyumi — 小野不由美
Translated by o6asan
Before they know, Sotsuyu(率由), Shishi(司刺), insisted on the death penalty, and Jokyu(如翕), Tenkei(典刑), insisted on imprisonment. From the beginning, Sotsuyu(率由) felt compassion for victims’ family because of meeting them at the opportunity of Sanshi(三剌). But this never showed that Sotsuyu(率由) wanted to do the death penalty. Sotsuyu(率由) stood on nothing but insisting on the death penalty according to the starting situation. To the contrary, Jokyu(如翕) dared to deny the death penalty. They played such a kind of roles each other. Eiko(瑛庚) knew very much they were seriously in two minds.
Eiko(瑛庚) himself wondered why all of the three so much hesitated about this. As Eiko(瑛庚) listened to them in silence, he was compelled to wonder Jokyu(如翕) had no chance as far as their discussion.
In a situation, Sotsuyu(率由) insisted on the death penalty because of people’s uneasiness.
“People are anxiety. The public peace is disturbed. To correct the disturbed country, I think we need the punishment to stop a punishment.”
To stop a punishment by the punishment(以刑止刑). — Meaning, saying to impose a severe punishment on one of criminals prevents other crimes. On the other hand, Jokyu(如翕) appealed to them for the severe punishment had no power to deter crimes, using many examples from their and other countries.
But, Sotsuyu(率由) contradicted.
“To use the death penalty can’t make security deterioration. Of course, we cannot deter crimes by the death penalty, but we need it for innocent people. The criminal like Shudatsu(狩獺) is certainly executed, which makes people stop worrying. A person murdered someone is executed. — Effect of intimidation, it is necessary for people’s peace.”
“I know people expect the peace. I also know they have a fear due to the disturbed world. To begin with, the country is disturbed and the popular mind gets wild, so, the number of crimes is increasing. — I hate having to say, but, our country is lurching. The lurch of the country is not corrected by punishments. instead, it will have innumerable harmful effects without doing any good at all. To revive the death penalty now is to permit the lurched country to overuse the death penalty.”
“To obstruct that is our responsibility. We, Shiho(司法), exist for peoples’ peace and for protecting them. We use the death penalty to ease and calm people, and we stop overusing it for the peoples’ safe. — What shall we do if we aren’t?”
This silenced Jokyu(如翕). Actually, Eiko(瑛庚) and others, all of them, were apprehensive that the death penalty might be overused by reviving it, but it was also their duty to stop overusing. Shiho(司法)’s duty is not only using punishments.
And other times, Jokyu(如翕) made a stand with the possibility of a mistake.
“We might have a misjudgment.”
Jokyu(如翕) said with disgust.
“You can say that mistakes we make never happen? Unfortunately, we might judge an innocent person as a guilty person. Later, when we find out it was false accusation, there is no way to undo if the person had been executed. We must have an opportunity to correct.”
“Well — I want to ask you a question. If it’s imprisonment, is the mistake acceptable? How about penal servitude? What does happen to the person that was judged for a false crime, was forced to perform hard labor, and spent some periods of his life? Is there any way to undo? Different from us, people are not immortal.”
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