Last week, someone who did not like my comments on current affairs slammed me in a broadsheet column for commenting on the law, considering that I am not a lawyer. For the nth time, here is a simple distinction.
There are people like Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein who write physics, teach physics and publish on physics. They are theoretical physicists. They deal with physics as an academic discipline. On the other hand, there are physicists hired by NASA. They build satellites, maintain those in orbit, oversee space missions and plan such exotica as space-walks. These are practical physicists. They often do not publish or research, because that is neither their interest nor their job description.
There are economics professors for whom economics is purely an academic discipline. A good example in this country is the inimitable Winnie Monsod. Such academics churn out theories, discuss them in their classes —often with the sophistication of which practitioners are incapable, because that is their job. They are theorists of economics. No one faults them for not having sat for examinations for real estate brokers, or for stock brokers. On the other hand, there are practitioners in economics: those who govern banks, direct corporations and manage enterprises. They seldom publish, research and lecture. Some do, though, as some passing engagement.
In medicine, it is the same. There are some experts in biochemistry, endocrinology, oncology, HIV and AIDS research etc. who are always in laboratories, who then publish their findings, discuss them at scientific assemblies and exchange output with fellow researchers. They do not see patients nor work in hospitals. They may not even be licensed to do so, because they do not care to be licensed. That is not their interest. They are researchers. Most of the time, they have PhDs or other doctorate degrees in their subjects of research. On the other hand, the physician who checks on your children when they are stricken by chicken pox or mumps, or who must attend to you when you are rushed to the trauma center may neither have the time nor the interest in research and publication, in lecture and exchange, but he must be licensed to practice medicine.
It is the same thing with law. Law, as a part of the broader field of social science, can be studied as an academic discipline. It is the subject of research, publication, scholarly exchange and discussion. This is the field of the law scholar and the law professor. His ancestor was the Roman jurisconsult. He does not go to court and does not live by fees paid him by clients. He may not be licensed to practice law, because that is neither his interest nor his concern. On the other hand, there are those you go to when someone occupies your vacant lot without your permission, or when you lose the count in an election and you think you won, or when you want to collect from a debtor who has forgotten to pay back, or when you are charged with plunder. Then you are represented by one licensed to practice law—an attorney. Many times, practitioners do not write, research and publish —nor are they too willing to venture far from established doctrine. Their ancestors were the lawyer-orators of Roman times, like Cicero, and the practitioners in Medieval Times who depended on the jurisconsults and professors for authoritative and thoughtful interpretations of the law.
A final analogy: One can study the math and the physics, the mechanics and the technology involved in the motion of a car. It is stupid to require for such a level of cogitation a driver’s license. It is a different story when you want to run a car as a taxi-driver. To do that, you need a driver’s license although you may not care too much about the calculus by which the flow of engine oil can be computed, or the physics by which the car carries its weight and that of its passengers.
So why do I write on the law, comment on it and publish books and articles on the subject? The simplest reason is that I have studied the subject and am continually studying it. To do that you do not need the title “Atty”, but one thing is for sure: You should not be dumb and there must be enough people who think you are not dumb to listen to you!
rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.ph
rannie_aquino@csu.edu.ph
rannie_aquino@yahoo.com
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