Law And Justice Flashcards
(7 cards)
- A simple idea of justice is…
fairness and equality.
In my opinion, justice is when everyone is treated fairly for example in school justice is achieved when everyone has to hand their homework in at the same time.
John Rawls published a book ‘The Theory of Justice in 1971’ which states that justice is achieved when the law is fair in how it seeks to punish wrongs and protect rights.
- There are several other theories of…
the meaning of justice.
Natural law theorists believe that justice is achieved when the law from a divine source is implemented on the other hand, justice is not achieved when this divine law is ignored.
This is why Natural Law Theorists who originate from an Orthodox Christian background would support the law that prostitution is still illegal in Great Britain but would believe that The Abortion Act 1967 is an unjust law.
- Aristotle discussed…
the meaning of justice in terms of distributive justice, this is how fairly a nation’s resources are distributed, and corrective justice ,how conflicts are resolved when they arise.
- Another theory of what justice means is…
utilitarianism.
This is the philosophy that developed in the nineteenth century predominantly from the writings of Bentham and Mil.
They believe that a law should maximise happiness and provides the ‘greatest good for the greatest number’.
Utalitarianists would therefore agree with the jail terms given to those involved in the 2024 Summer riots due to the Southport attack.
- Another theory of what justice means is…
economic theories.
There are two main economic theories, these are capitalism and socialism.
Capitalists believe that justice is achieved when the government does not interfere with peoples wealth if it has been obtained in a legitimate manner for example justice is achieved through lower taxes for example.
Socialism is the idea that wealth should be distributed fairly in society this doesn’t necessarily mean equally but socialists would generally argue that higher taxes achieve justice.
- The final theory of the meaning of justice is…
Positivism.
Positivists oppose the theory of natural law as they believe that if law is made according to the correct procedures it should be followed absolutely however it much conflicts with morality.
In this way justice is achieved as the law has been made using correct procedures in a democratically elected society.
Professor Hart was a positivist as he argued that law should be based on logical ideas that will produce correct decisions according to rules.
Professor Hart therefore supported the recommendations of the Wolfenden committee in the 1950s that recommended that both prostitution and homosexuality should be legalised.
He would therefore argue that those working in the sex industry at the current time do not achieve justice as the illegality of this trade is based on morality rather than rational legal thinking.
- Justice can be achieved through both the procedures of…
The legal system and the substantive law.
There are many people, institutions and procedures in the English Legal System which aim to promote justice for example the use of juries.
Juries achieve justice for example by allowing judgment by your peers whereas perhaps they do not provide reasons for their decisions thus rendering an appeal difficult.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission hopefully rectifies miscarriages of justices by allowing appeals where new evidence is revealed for example in the case of the Guildford four.
