Reading between the law

Laws (superstructure) merely reflect the self-serving interest of the dominant economic elite (substructure) in the society.  This reminds me of a people's lawyer who constantly tell her students in labor studies to critically "read between the laws" in order to expose this powerful underlying influence in the dialectics of policymaking and policy implementation. Take, for instance, the existing mining, environment, agrarian reform, labor and investment legislations in the Philippines as testaments to the unholy alliance of the foreign and domestic bourgeois forces. I therefore agree with this activist lawyer that a critical and analytical preparatory to law studies and practice (#alamnyoyanDSSstudents) is an imperative in understanding the law in its various dimensions (beyond legality) and in contributing to the transformation of the legal system in both its substantial and procedural aspects.  A critical foundation and anchorage in the study of society is crucial in keeping the students of mainstream law grounded in the Philippine socio-economic and socio-political realities. And most fundamentally, the emergence of a pro-people judicial system is only possible in the context of a pro-people politico-economic system. #attykarol #attyponsi hihi #alternativelawyering