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.^[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]