The Jewish Justice System - Parshat Shoftim

(18) You shall appoint judges and officers for your tribes, in all the settlements that the Eternal your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people with just judgment. (19) You shall not render biased judgment: you shall show no partiality; you shall not take bribes, for bribes blind the eyes of the discerning and upset the plea of the just. (20) Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that the Eternal your God is giving you.

(19) Now listen to me. I will give you counsel, and God be with you! You represent the people before God: you bring the disputes before God, (20) and enjoin upon them the laws and the teachings, and make known to them the way they are to go and the practices they are to follow. (21) You shall also seek out from among all the people capable men who fear God, trustworthy men who spurn ill-gotten gain. Set these over them as chiefs of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, (22) and let them judge the people at all times. Have them bring every major dispute to you, but let them decide every minor dispute themselves. Make it easier for yourself by letting them share the burden with you.

(16) Then the Eternal One said to Moses, “Gather for Me seventy of Israel’s elders of whom you have experience as elders and officers of the people, and bring them to the Tent of Meeting and let them take their place there with you. (17) I will come down and speak with you there, and I will draw upon the spirit that is on you and put it upon them; they shall share the burden of the people with you, and you shall not bear it alone.

(8) If a case is too baffling for you to decide, be it a controversy over homicide, civil law, or assault—matters of dispute in your courts—you shall promptly go up to the place that the Eternal your God will have chosen, (9) and appear before the levitical priests, or the judge in charge at the time, and present your problem. When they have announced to you the verdict in the case, (10) you shall carry out the verdict that is announced to you from that place that the Eternal chose, observing scrupulously all their instructions to you. (11) You shall act in accordance with the Torah shown you and the judgment handed down to you; you must not deviate from the verdict that they announce to you either to the right or to the left.

the judge in charge at the time - Even though this judge does not measure up to other judges that have come before, you must obey this judge — for you have nothing but the judge that lives in your days.

(14) If, after you have entered the land that the Eternal your God has assigned to you, and taken possession of it and settled in it, you decide, “I will set a king over me, as do all the nations about me,” (15) you shall be free to set a king over yourself, one chosen by the Eternal your God. Be sure to set as king over yourself one of your own people; you must not set a foreigner over you, one who is not your kinsman.

(25) Far be it from You to do such a thing, to bring death upon the innocent as well as the guilty, so that innocent and guilty fare alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”

(11) And the Israelites did what was offensive to the Eternal. They worshiped the Baalim (12) and forsook the Eternal, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods, from among the gods of the peoples around them, and bowed down to them; they provoked the Eternal. (13) They forsook the Eternal and worshiped Baal and the Ashtaroth. (14) Then the Eternal was incensed at Israel, and God handed them over to foes who plundered them. God surrendered them to their enemies on all sides, and they could no longer hold their own against their enemies. (15) In all their campaigns, the hand of the Eternal was against them to their undoing, as the Eternal had declared and as the Eternal had sworn to them; and they were in great distress. (16) Then the Eternal raised up judges who delivered them from those who plundered them. (17) But they did not heed their judges either; they went astray after other gods and bowed down to them. They were quick to turn aside from the way their fathers had followed in obedience to the commandments of the Eternal; they did not do right. (18) When the Eternal raised up judges for them, the Eternal would be with the judge and would save them from their enemies during the judge's lifetime; for the Eternal would be moved to pity by their moanings because of those who oppressed and crushed them. (19) But when the judge died, they would again act basely, even more than the preceding generation—following other gods, worshiping them, and bowing down to them; they omitted none of their practices and stubborn ways.