Hear The Other Side

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Audi Alteram Partem is a legal maxim, the meaning of which is ‘Hear the other side or hear both sides.

It is an important legal maxim which should be scrupulously followed in the administration of justice. Any order that is passed without hearing the other side actually vitiates the proceedings and it negates the principles of natural justice.

Therefore many decisions and proceedings have been set at naught, just because the other side was not given an opportunity to put forth their views.

Therefore, ‘Audi Alteram Partem may be said to be the lifeline of the judiciary.

However, the essence of this legal maxim can be successfully applied and followed in the day today life of the human beings.

In a family, this maxim ‘hear the other side should be the guiding principle for successfully running family affairs. Between a husband and wife there should be a openness in discussing the family issues; before taking a decision in a particular issue, the husband should patiently hear what his wife says; similarly, the wife should hear patiently what the husband says.Then only they can discuss a particular issue threadbare and arrive at a most appropriate decision under the given circumstances.In a way, hearing the other side leads to the evolution of a collective decision.This collective decision will always be successful and will never fail.

Similarly, the parent-children relationship should also be governed by this useful concept, ‘hear the other side.Though as parents you may be more experienced and capable of taking a decision relating to a particular issue involving your children, it is always good to hear from your children what they say on a particular issue that affects them most.On the other hand if you do not hear your children and unilaterally take a decision of your own and impose a decision on your children it may sometimes backfire.

Similarly, this concept ‘hear the other side plays a vital role in a class room also.A teacher should always ‘hear the other side know the actual difficulty of a child in his studies and accordingly device a suitable method of study to the particular student in a particular subject.

This concept ‘hear the other side plays a very vital role in regulating your friendship too.It keeps your friendship mutual, reciprocal, caring and even creates a complete understanding among friends.If this concept is not followed among friends, there is every possibility of emergence of doubts and misunderstanding and it may even lead to parting of ways between friends.

In the public life, this concept ‘hear the other side is even more important. In democracy, the most successful form of government, this concept ‘hear the other side plays a vital role.We are all aware why Abraham Lincoln is hailed as one of the most successful presidents of US. In fact he was a true democrat believing in the concept ‘hear the other side’in the day to day administration of his government. Especially during the period of civil war, when one of Abraham Lincoln’s decision was criticized as foolish by one of his subordinates, Lincoln was magnanimous enough to summon the subordinate to hear him patiently how his decision was foolish. After hearing the explanation from his subordinate, Lincoln was wise enough to revise the decision already taken by him.That is why he is hailed as great!

Realizing the importance of hearing the other side in a democracy, the views of the opposition parties are heard patiently and are given due weightage if they have substance and merit.

Thus the concept ‘hear the other side’ plays a very important role both in our private as well as in our public life.