Justice is often represented with the symbol of a balance. This dates back at least to the Roman times when the Roman law reached an unprecedented spread across Europe. The philosophy of law dating even further back to the Greek philosophers, notably Aristotle, founded comparative law with his comparison of constitutional principles in various Greek city states of his time. Striking the right balance, therefore, is encrypted into law, legislation and the American constitutional principle of checks and balances. In Paris the sculpture in the “Parc du Palais Royal” of heavy metal balance at the opposite end of the park is moving as well. Facing the ”Conseil d’état” and the “Le conseil constitutionnel”, this is a forceful reminder of the basic principles of a republic and democracy.
In the 21st century, particularly, since the weights attached at each end of the balance pull more forcefully at the moment in several countries.
Institution building and safeguarding the existing ones have become “the challenge for democracies in 2025 in many “centuries-old” democracies.
(Image: Sculpture by Raul Mourao in Parc Palais Royal, Paris 2025-10)
