Give me the man and I will give you the case against him

"Give me the man and I will give you the case against him"^[1] (Polish: Dajcie mi człowieka, a paragraf się znajdzie; translated to English more literally as "give me the man; there'll be a paragraph^[a] for him",^[2] Russian: Был бы человек, а статья найдется ("If there is a person, there will be an article [in the criminal code]") , also interpreted as "give me the man, and I will find the crime",^[3] or "show me the man and I'll show you the crime"^[4]) is a saying that was popularized in the Soviet Union and in Poland in the period of the People's Republic of Poland, attributed to the Stalinist-era Soviet jurist Andrey Vyshinsky,^[2]^[5]^: 200^[6] or the Soviet secret police chief Lavrentiy Beria.^[3]^[4] It refers to the miscarriage of justice in the form of the abuse of power by the jurists, who can find the defendant guilty of "something" if they so desire. The saying is related specifically to the concept of the presumption of guilt.^[5]^[6]^[7]^: 179^[8]^: 85

^ Keeping, Janet (2006). "Where Law Does Not Rule: The Russian Oil and Gas Sector". International Journal. 62 (1): 69–80. doi:10.2307/40204246. ISSN 0020-7020. JSTOR 40204246.
^ ^a ^b Looby, Robert (31 March 2015). Censorship, Translation and English Language Fiction in People's Poland. Hotei Publishing. ISBN 978-90-04-29306-9.
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b Henry, Michael (9 May 2018). "Show me the man and I'll show you the crime". The Oxford Eagle. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
^ ^a ^b Deleixhe, Thibault (2015). "Powieść historyczna pod czujnym okiem cenzora – analiza tekstów". Adeptus (in Polish) (6): 11–25. ISSN 2300-0783.
^ ^a ^b Dobrzycki, Jarosław (30 August 2022). ""Gazeta Polska" — pomiędzy tygodnikiem opinii a tabloidem" [Gazeta Polska between an opinion-forming weekly and a tabloid]. Rocznik Historii Prasy Polskiej (in Polish). 25 (2): 101–127. ISSN 2084-8552.
^ Bohun, Michał (2016). Drogi i bezdroża patosu moralnego : kilka uwag o etycznej tendencji filozofii rosyjskiej (in Polish). Kraków : Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego. ISBN 978-83-233-4105-5.
^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

[1] Keeping, Janet (2006). "Where Law Does Not Rule: The Russian Oil and Gas Sector". International Journal. 62 (1): 69–80. doi:10.2307/40204246. ISSN 0020-7020. JSTOR 40204246.

[:03-3] Looby, Robert (31 March 2015). Censorship, Translation and English Language Fiction in People's Poland. Hotei Publishing. ISBN 978-90-04-29306-9.

[:1-4] Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[:2-5] Henry, Michael (9 May 2018). "Show me the man and I'll show you the crime". The Oxford Eagle. Retrieved 15 April 2023.

[:13-6] Deleixhe, Thibault (2015). "Powieść historyczna pod czujnym okiem cenzora – analiza tekstów". Adeptus (in Polish) (6): 11–25. ISSN 2300-0783.

[:22-7] Dobrzycki, Jarosław (30 August 2022). ""Gazeta Polska" — pomiędzy tygodnikiem opinii a tabloidem" [Gazeta Polska between an opinion-forming weekly and a tabloid]. Rocznik Historii Prasy Polskiej (in Polish). 25 (2): 101–127. ISSN 2084-8552.

[:32-8] Bohun, Michał (2016). Drogi i bezdroża patosu moralnego : kilka uwag o etycznej tendencji filozofii rosyjskiej (in Polish). Kraków : Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego. ISBN 978-83-233-4105-5.

[:3-9] Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[1]

[a]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]