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Every nation which holds itself to be an independent
and autonomous entity is obligated to establish a system of courts to uphold the Seven Noahide Commandments. (Aside
from this, it is assumed that the Gentile nations also establish civil laws according to their own principles and
that their courts rule on civil matters, since these inevitably arise in the normal functioning of a society.)
But even if there are no courts which expressly follow the Noahide Commandments, as in our day and age, every Gentile
is still obligated to constrain himself or herself to believe in and follow the Seven Noahide Commandments. It
is praiseworthy to enourage others to do so as well, and to support laws in your own society which move toward
the letter and spirit of the Noahide Commandments.
In the future Era of the Messiah, which is coming speedily and in our days, there should be no need for criminal
trials, since the Messiah will improve the entire world and motivate all the nations to serve G-d together, as
it is prophecied in Zephaniah 3:9
- "I [G-d] will make the peoples pure of speech that they all will call upon the Name
of G-d and serve Him with one purpose."
All Gentiles will return to the true Noahide faith and will no longer destroy or steal. In that time, the occupation
of the entire world will be only to know G-d, as Isaiah 11:9 states: "The world will be filled with the knowledge of G-d as the sea fills the
ocean bed." (Maimonides, Laws of Kings, Chapters 11-12.)
It would appear that it is the responsibility of the ruling power to institute oversight on the courts to be sure
that only proper and expert judges are appointed, and that the judges do not act corruptly or unrighteously, which
is forbidden.
It also appears that the ruling power has the authority to
institute a structure of "appeals" courts or "referral" courts.
The rules for a case brought to trial are that (1) the guilty
person must be mentally competent and a legal adult, according to the Torah's standards, and (2) the person must
be properly tried in a court with proper Noahide witnesses and proper Noahide judges.
The judges in Noahide courts must themselves be strict followers
of the letter and spirit of the Noahide Commandments, and they must refer any questions they have on the Noahide
Code to reliable Orthodox Rabbis who are experts in this area of Torah Law.
Also, any witness who is known to transgress any of the Noahide Commandments is not allowed to testify in the court.
Only adult males who keep the Noahide Commandments, do acts of kindness, and behave in a straight, honest and upright
way are allowed to testify against the accused person in a capital case.
Someone who acts disgracefully in public is disqualified as a witness. From "The Path of the Righteous Gentile,"
p. 109: "These are people who walk and eat in coarse, impolite fashion in public, or who go naked in public,
... or anyone who feels no self-embarrassment."
Furthermore, as a practical matter, the Torah-based authority
of the Noahide court to function and carry out punishments would have to be accepted by the society in which it
is functioning.
Noahide courts can exercise discretion in the
face of special conditions. For example, Jacob did not want to bring the case of the sinful city of Shechem to
judgment, because of the risk that it would incite the surrounding Canaanite societies (Genesis 34:30)
The Torah views incarceration (jail or prison terms) as only
appropriate in extenuating circumstances, because any person who is living in the world should have the opportunity
to fulfill the obligation to make productive contributions to the society.
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QUESTION : I find it interesting that the law of not bearing false witness is left out of the Noahide Laws.
Why is it missing? Am I misunderstanding the Seven Noahide Laws?
> B. W.
ANSWER : The Noahide Commandments do not leave out a prohibition against bearing false witness. This prohibition
is included as a detail of the general Noahide Commandment to set up righteous courts of law. For more information
about this, you can refer to the chapter on Courts of Law in the book "The Path of
the Righteous Gentile."
The prescribed punishment for bearing false witness is quite strict. The chapter linked to above concludes with
the following points:
"[Bearing] false witness [in a capital case] ... is tantamount to conspiring against another, and this is
a grave transgression. (Note: One who gives false testimony which convicts a person and causes him to be executed
receives the death penalty.)"
Furthermore, in addition to the Seven Noahide Laws, the nations of antiquity voluntarily accepted several rules
of moral behavior, and these are also considered binding (see our page on Righteous Traditions).
One of these established moral obligations is to not deceive others. This is evidenced by Jacob's accusation against
Laban (Gen. 29:25), "Why have you deceived me?", against which Laban takes pains to justify himself (thus
showing that he agreed that deception was considered a sin). This rule also forced Jacob to marry Rachel as he
had originally promised her, before Laban switched her for Leah, even though he personally wished to restrict himself
to only one wife.
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QUESTION : The Bible says it is permitted for a man to have multiple wives. If a goverment passes a law that
makes this illegal, has it violated the Noahide Code?
ANSWER : It is true that from the Hebrew scriptures, a man may have multiple wives (but each wife should
be made fully aware of the other wives before she agrees to be married, and each wife should be provided with her
own separate home in which she is visited privately by her husband). But in the tenth century in Europe, Rabbi
Gershom (known as "Meor Hagolah," the "Light of the Diaspora") saw that it was necessary
to make a Rabbinic decree that a Jewish man can have only one wife at a time. (This was not fully accepted by some
groups of Sefardic Jews in the Arabic countries.) There was never any such Rabbinic decree passed for Gentiles,
but most modern Western countries have passed secular laws against polygamy.
It is important to understand that if secular courts or governments
decide that it is fitting for the overall good of the society, they have the authority to place legal limits on
otherwise permitted activities, if the restriction is acceptable to the population in general. Then by the Noahide
"Law of Courts," it becomes required of the citizens to observe that secular law, and the courts can
apply any rule for non-capital punishment that the public in general accepts, as long as it is not cruel and unusual.
This is called "going beyond the letter" of the Torah Law. For example, a court system has the right
to limit the male citizens to only one legally contracted wife at a time (including both formally registered marriages
and common-law marriages), if this is judged to be a benefit for the society.
Furthermore, G-d's known standards for moral
human behavior are also part of G-d's desire for "yishuv
olom" (people making societies that are
peaceful and proper in G-d's eyes). Therefore, this is also a part of the Noahide obligation to promote "yishuv olom"
- that people should be encouraged to act in ways that are morally proper according to G-d, or at least not to
act in ways that are known from the Hebrew scriptures (which are authentic Divine revelation) to be abhorent to
G-d, whether or not the undesirable actions are actually liable to punishment according to the Torah's Noahide
Code.
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