A world of "rules".

We have been beating ourselves up in our usual fashion over the sentence handed out to a member of the Marines who was found guilty of shooting a wounded prisoner. Today's rules of engagement governed by the Geneva Convention are clear and the guy is guilty. The rules are the rules and we must obey them otherwise society falls apart.
The question of who formulates the rules, Parliament, greatly influenced by pressure groups and people of influence, Case Law and the decisions of Judges who themselves are the product of special interest through the home and private school education.
Rules by and large are handed down from above and in many instances seem to favour people who have the money to argue why the rules do not apply to them. In the case of the marine, as in so many actual incidents, the surrounding conditions often make a mockery of the rules which in themselves are founded in the contemplative atmosphere of a civilised setting.
Due consideration is thought to be given to the setting of the offence (the breaking of the rule) but in actual fact no one can understand how the human being will react under continual stress particularly in modern day combat where the enemy is not in uniform and appears as a civilian and ones life is at risk 24 hours a day.
The woman or man who breaks after months of bitter condemnation and ridicule, hits out, sometimes with  terrible consequences.
The rules do not generally make exceptions although the sentence can be commuted, the sentence, "guilty" indicates that there is only one factor at play, the impeachability of the rule.