Symptoms of Backwardness / Part 1

Have you ever thought about what features we describe as developed or undeveloped a country or any settlement? When, we think of a developed country, we think of the country’s achievements in education, industry, agricultural production, economy, law and order, and high-tech exports. But what about underdeveloped countries, what problems come to the fore in underdeveloped countries and what are the symptoms of underdevelopment? In this series of articles, I will look at the different manifestations of underdevelopment and, based on my findings so far, I will talk about a common story that I think is common to many underdeveloped countries. So, let’s start looking at the symptoms of underdevelopment.

1- A place where the rule of law is not adopted, and people do not have a legal culture is backward.

When Georges Burdeau says, “Man invented the state in order not to obey man”, the expression “Man invented law in order not to obey man”, which is the version of this expression adapted to law, is also important for us to understand the starting point of law. We cannot talk about legal certainty in an order where the powerful is the rule-maker and can change, abolish or apply the rules to whomever they wish, in any way they wish. Therefore, people have to come together to determine which behaviours are punishable and which are not, how interpersonal relations should be regulated, and how they should be regulated, taking into account the various situations that may arise during daily life. In the absence of regulation, there can be no certainty and legal security. For those who want to understand the importance of legal certainty, I suggest that they research the need for the 12th Plate Laws and the function they performed for the period in which they were written. In short, human beings must invent law and establish mechanisms to ensure that everyone obeys the rules in the geography where that law is applied. However, there is something we should pay attention to here, as famous thinkers and jurists who have thought about justice have said before, justice is to give everyone what they deserve, what is their share, good if it is good, bad if it is bad. Law, which was invented by humans as a need, should serve to ensure the idea of justice; we can say that “law” that does not aim for justice is a hollow pile of mere rules. Today, we can say that there is a close connection between law and development. The development of a place depends on investment in that place, the opening of new business lines and the ability to attract capital. Well, imagine that you are a rich businessperson, you have money in your pocket, you are thinking of investing, the first thing you will look at for the investment you will make will be how the money you will spend, how long it will return to you and the profitability of that business. As soon as you see that it is economically disadvantageous to make the investment, you give up on it. Let’s say the investment is economically advantageous, the return is high, but do you think this alone is a sufficient criterion, isn’t there another detail that you have forgotten? For those who say that profitability alone is enough, which of Cameroon, Pakistan, Haiti, Cambodia or Suriname would they want to invest in if they knew they would make a profit? If none of these countries is the answer despite profitability, it would not be wrong to talk about a second criterion. We can easily say that the second criterion is a developed legal order. If you ask why, capital wants security just like everyone else, except those who feed on an environment of insecurity. Businesspeople want the money they invest, that is, their property rights to be protected, the rules they will be subject to in commercial life, the economic order of the place where they invest to be predictable, or they demand that there are effective legal remedies that they can apply in the face of any adverse situation. Countries with a well-functioning, independent and strong legal system are a centre of attraction for both business organizations and people. In addition, the rule of law will help to equip individuals with legal awareness and culture. A law-conscious individual will know that he/she must respect the rights of others while exercising his/her freedoms and will think that he/she will face sanctions by the rule of law in case of violation of this situation. If the rule of law is established, no one will be able to build illegal structures, make noise and disturb their neighbours or the environment, “celebrate” by firing a gun into the air, think of violating traffic rules, consume illegal energy, etc. No one will be able to afford to engage in unlawful behaviour, or at least will not be able to boldly commit lawlessness. Because in a true state of law, anyone who disturbs the peace of the people, tries to seize more than what he/she is entitled to, and commits acts that will shake the public peace and order with unlawful behaviour will be subjected to the sanctions and penalties stipulated by the law. In fact, the law is an important tool that should facilitate our lives so that we can all live humanely and not harm each other. If there is law, there is freedom, investment, different ideas and voices, wealth, abundance and prosperity. If there is no law, there is misery and insecurity; if there is insecurity, there is fear; if there is fear, there is no investment and capital flight; if there is no investment and capital, there is poverty. The choice of whether or not to be a state of law is in the hands of the people living in that country or geography. If the majority of people say that “the rule of law is not in my interest”, “I will lose my current informal income”,” I cannot live in my illegal house”, “if I obey the rules, I will have to give way to pedestrians and lose time”, “if I work on time, I cannot be a civil servant according to my way”, these people do not demand the rule of law, they are satisfied with their situation, they even think that this situation is beneficial for them, maybe they are not wrong for the short term, but I am sure that they are at a loss in the long term. As a result, the more law the more development, the more development the more prosperity. The fact that the rule of law has not been established and the majority of citizens who do not have a legal culture is a sign of backwardness. We will continue to examine other signs in the rest of the article series.