Meaning of 僕に in 「僕に勝手に人を裁く権利があるのか？」


In the first episode of Death Note, the speaker wonders whether he has the
right to take people's lives as he wishes:

> **僕に** 勝手に人を裁く権利があるのか？

I understand that 勝手に means "as one pleases", but what nuance is 僕に adding?
Does it mean "selfishly" ("for myself")?




Let's break this sentence down into its simplest part.

> 権利【けんり】があるのか？  
>  right [SUBJ] exists [EXPLANATORY] [QUESTION]?  
>  Is there the right [to do something]?

Note that ある can also be translated as "to have", if this verb is used in
relation to a person. The person "having" the thing is frequently marked with
the topic particle は, as in 私【わたし】[は]{●}自転車【じてんしゃ】がある → "as for me, there is a
bicycle / a bicycle exists" → "I have a bicycle".

The person can also be marked with the dative / locative particle に.
Translating the construction `[PERSON]`に`[THING]`がある might be a bit like "by
[PERSON], there exists [THING]". The phrasing is odd from an English-language
point of view, but it isn't that uncommon in languages around the world -- we
see close structural analogs in such far-flung languages as Hungarian, Navajo,
and German. Even English, in certain cases.

Adding the person in, we get:

> 僕【ぼく】に権利【けんり】があるのか？  
>  I [LOC] right [SUBJ] exists [EXPLANATORY] [QUESTION]?  
>  Is there the right [to do something] by me / in me?  
>  Do I have the right [to do something]?

And lastly, as I suspect you're already aware, the bit in the middle tells us
specifically what kind of 権利【けんり】 or "right" we're talking about here -- the
right to 勝手【かって】に人【ひと】を裁く【さばく】, or "freely judge people".




Let's break this sentence down into its simplest part.

> 権利【けんり】があるのか？  
>  right [SUBJ] exists [EXPLANATORY] [QUESTION]?  
>  Is there the right [to do something]?

Note that ある can also be translated as "to have", if this verb is used in
relation to a person. The person "having" the thing is frequently marked with
the topic particle は, as in 私【わたし】[は]{●}自転車【じてんしゃ】がある → "as for me, there is a
bicycle / a bicycle exists" → "I have a bicycle".

The person can also be marked with the dative / locative particle に.
Translating the construction `[PERSON]`に`[THING]`がある might be a bit like "by
[PERSON], there exists [THING]". The phrasing is odd from an English-language
point of view, but it isn't that uncommon in languages around the world -- we
see close structural analogs in such far-flung languages as Hungarian, Navajo,
and German. Even English, in certain cases.

Adding the person in, we get:

> 僕【ぼく】に権利【けんり】があるのか？  
>  I [LOC] right [SUBJ] exists [EXPLANATORY] [QUESTION]?  
>  Is there the right [to do something] by me / in me?  
>  Do I have the right [to do something]?

And lastly, as I suspect you're already aware, the bit in the middle tells us
specifically what kind of 権利【けんり】 or "right" we're talking about here -- the
right to 勝手【かって】に人【ひと】を裁く【さばく】, or "freely judge people".

