THE ROBE AND THE MORALITY
The pursuit of justice and moral truth has always stirred human thought, caught between light and shadow, certainty and doubt.
But what is morality if not that fragile thread stretched between our deepest convictions and the complex, plural reality of the world ?
Can one, in good conscience, defend the indefensible ?
This question is more than rhetorical it lies at the very heart of the human condition, of justice and of the lawyer’s mission.
That figure in a black robe, charged with symbolism, heir to a millennia-old tradition.
Morality is both a guide and a boundary. It comes from our experience, our culture, and that universal part of us that binds us in shared humanity.
But what is right or wrong is rarely absolute. It shifts a fluid social contract, shaped by time and place. And sometimes, our opinions become rigid, carved in stone, allowing no nuance. Why ?
Because we long for clarity in an uncertain world, and because our instinct to survive pushes us to defend what we know.
But aren’t we, before anything else, evolving beings, capable of adapting to our environment, our history, our encounters ?
Since the 12th century, the lawyer has worn the black robe, closed by thirty-three buttons, echoing the life of Christ: sacrifice and rebirth.
The robe is not just clothing. It is the symbol of equality before the law a reminder that every person, every cause, deserves to be heard.
To offer counsel is not just a profession, it is a sacred mission, derived from the Latin minister (meaning: “lesser”): a humble role in the service of others.
To defend the indefensible is not a contradiction. It is a moral and ethical necessity.
Because justice is not about personal comfort or moral purity. It is about the confrontation of ideas, about letting every argument face the trial of reason and the rules of law.
The lawyer is the final safeguard against arbitrariness, the guarantor that no voice is silenced.
They are a secular priest of plural truth, knowing that even in the deepest shadow, a glimmer of justice may shine.
Balzac would have seen this as a scene fit for one of his great human comedies.
Robert Badinter would have recognized in it the inalienable defense of human dignity.
Marc Bonnant and André Malraux would have praised the grandeur of the spoken word, transcending the individual to reach the universal.
Morality is neither a cage nor a shield. It is a demanding path, paved with doubt and responsibility.
To defend the indefensible is to say: Humanity is never entirely lost. Justice is always a work in progress.
And the lawyer’s voice, wrapped in a sacred robe, is a constant call to shared humanity.
A fable inspired by morality, justice… and the black gown.
A proud Thistle, bristling with sharp defense,
Declared in the square, full of confidence:
“I punish! I strike! I tear lies apart!
Truth needs thorns not softness of heart!”
A gentle Quill, drifting light in the air,
Floated by, with a thoughtful stare.
“No one is purely shadow or light,” she said.
“Even under the sun, some darkness is spread.”
“Ha!” scoffed the Thistle, shaking his crown.
“Would you defend the thief in town?
Would you pardon the traitor, the liar, the cheat?
Isn’t justice about making evil retreat?”
Then came a Lawyer, old and discreet,
Draped in black, calm from head to feet.
He bowed to them both, serene in his role,
And offered these words with a generous soul:
“To defend is not to approve, nor excuse.
It is to listen when others accuse.
For judging too fast is sowing blind,
And justice, though blind, must still be kind.
Good and evil? A vast terrain.
The law must hold, even in pain.”
The Thistle lowered his thorny pride.
The Quill simply drifted, and quietly sighed.
For sometimes, morality’s not a cry or a sign
But a tightrope walk, between shadow and shine.
Moral of the fable
He who rushes to judge may silence what deserves to be heard.
And the lawyer ? He does not justify he makes space for truth to emerge. Adrian Vangheli-Stavila