excerpt
The judge walked in, declared the court in session, and surveyed the
group in front of him. “Mr. Kirkby,” he said. “Where is your lawyer?’
“Your honour, I don’t have one,” Ken said. “I’m going to be my own
lawyer.”
“That’s very foolhardy.”
“Given the state of my circumstances, not only financially, but in all
ways, I feel that I’m in a position where I have to fight this battle myself,”
Ken said.
“I have to caution you,” the judge said. “This is not a minor issue.”
“I’m aware of that, your honour.”
“I’m advising you strongly that we should postpone this until you get
a lawyer.”
“May I explain to you why I don’t want a lawyer?”
Ken said that the lawyers who had supposedly been protecting him
had, in fact, not done so. The government, that was supposed to protect
his interests had not. He understood the essence of the law, even though
he might not know the jargon of the legal profession, and he had more
confidence in himself than in anyone else. He understood the consequences
and was prepared for them. “If it goes poorly for me, you won’t
hear me complain.”
“I appreciate your analysis,” the judge said. “But I think you’re wrong
and I insist that you get a lawyer.”
“Your honour, you can’t insist that I get a lawyer.”
The judge leaned forward. “Are you preaching the law to me?”
“No, your honour.”
“You fancy yourself as a lawyer?”
“No, I don’t. But it’s not possible to force me to have a lawyer. It’s my
right as a citizen to defend myself without counsel.”
“I told you – don’t preach the law to me.”
“Your honour, I assure you, I’m not preaching the law to you or to
anyone else. I am not a preacher.”
“If you keep on this tack, I’m going to find you in contempt of court.”
“So be it, your honour. It is my understanding that I have the right to
do what I have set out to do.”
“I told you if you keep on that tack, I’ll find you in contempt and right
now you are in contempt of court! Doesn’t that frighten you?”
“No your honour, it doesn’t. I came from a place where people pointed
guns at each other and illiterates held people hostage, a country where life
became cheap – where there was dictatorship and revolution. I was in the
middle of that, and I wasn’t frightened. So, the one place on this planet
where a man or a woman does not need to be frightened is in a Canadian
courtroom. So, no, I am not frightened and I am very surprised that you
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