Kenyan Lawyer Wants Jesus Christ’s Case Appealed, Sentence Overturned

Dola Indidis wants justice for Jesus Christ.

The Kenyan lawyer is trying to get the International Court of Justice at The Hague to hear his case: A complete pardon of the founder of Christianity who was convicted and put to death by crucifixion over 2,000 years ago (yeah, we meant that Jesus).

“I filed the case because it’s my duty to uphold the dignity of Jesus and I have gone to the ICJ to seek justice for the man from Nazareth,” Dola Indidis told the Nairobian. “His selective and malicious prosecution violated his human rights through judicial misconduct, abuse of office bias and prejudice.”

But is such a thing even possible? At the very least, it will be incredibly difficult because everyone who could be held accountable for Christ’s death is also dead. To wit, his lawsuit targets Roman Emperor Tiberius, Roman King Herod, Judea’s Governor Pontius Pilate, and various Pharisees and Jewish leaders who attempted to turn Jesus over to Roman authority.

Other targets of his lawsuit that are barely a little more accountable are the governments of Italy and Israel, since they “inherited” the laws of the Roman Empire.

But even if it’s possible to hear such a case, no court ever will. In fact, Indidis already tried to have his lawsuit heard in the High Court of Kenya in 2007, but they kicked it out due to jurisdiction. The ICJ is similarly bound, according to Columbia law professor Anthea Roberts.

“When it comes to contentious cases, the International Court of Justice only has jurisdiction to hear claims that are brought by one state against another state. As this claim is not brought by a state, the ICJ would lack jurisdiction over it. Even if the claim were to be brought by a state, it also needs to be brought against a state, which does not seem to be the case here. And, even then, the two states will need to have consented to the ICJ having jurisdiction to hear the type of case in question …

“In this case, it is not clear what international law might have been violated and, even if there was such a violation, it is not clear that the relevant states have consented to the ICJ having jurisdiction over the dispute.”

Beyond modern legal concerns, Indidis’ lawsuit doesn’t even really gel with Biblical tradition. Particularly, it’s difficult to see how any Roman authority can be held accountable for Christ’s crucifixion. After kicking Christ’s case around among officials of the time, the buck stopped with Pontius Pilate who couldn’t figure out how to legally execute him.

He gave him a whipping and sent him on his way. This was apparently legally binding and good enough for the Pharisees who wanted Jesus killed, because that’s exactly what happened.

Additionally, if the Biblical account of resurrection could be taken as true, how would that conflict with the lawsuit? If a man who was killed was later seen alive by several witnesses, what does that mean for the legal responsibility of his executioners?

Okay, obviously I’m treading into tongue-in-cheek territory here, so maybe this is a good place to stop.

Do you think that Dola Indidis’ case for Christ will ever be heard in a court of law?