Next the cities of refuge instructions are given again. These were places where people could flee if they had unintentionally killed someone. The system was well organised. The land was split into three regions, and there had to be good roads to the cities. So there was a concern that justice is carried out properly. If someone is killed relatives of the victims naturally feel aggrieved. In such a case it is possible that further injustice could be carried out. Hence the cities of refuge.
Today in our society there is increasing talk about taking account of the feelings of victims in trials. We need to be careful about this. The reason why this has arisen is that our courts have been far too lax on criminals. In the instructions we see here, we find that proper steps are taken to ensure that innocent people are not wrongly made to pay for murder, but on the other hand, if someone is guilty of murder then they are dealt with very severely. So there is a good balance. What we need in our society is a legal system that does acquit the innocent and judges the guilty. All the talk at the moment about taking account of victims is just a sign of a broken legal system.
Cases required at least two witnesses. Interestingly, I think Scotland still has this requirement, but England does not. Telling lies on court was a most serious offence.
In many ways the legal system was more advanced than ours!
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