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NAME: DEVESH CHAUHAN.

ROLL NO.: 17B.A. LL. B-82.

ENROLMENT NO.: GI-6611.

SUBJECT: LEGAL THEORY.

CLASS: B.A. LL. B (B).

SEMESTER: 6TH.

TOPIC: THE CONCEPT OF JUSTICE.


 CONTENTS:

 INTRODUCTION.
 THE CONCEPT OF JUSTICE.
 DEFINITION OF JUSTICE.
 ROLE OF JUSTICE.
 JUSTICE ACCORDING TO LAW.
 TYPES OF JUSTICE.
 THE CONCEPT OF SOCIAL JUSTICE.
 JOHN RAWLS CONCEPT OF JUSTICE.
 INTRODUCTION:

Broadly speaking, justice, means the fulfilment of the legitimate expectation of the
individual under laws and to assure him the benefit promised therein. Justice tries to
reconcile the individual rights with the social good. The concept of justice is related to
dealings amongst human beings. Its emphases are on the concept of equality. It
requires that no discrimination should be made among the various members of the
society. To define justice, it is very essential to refer to the root idea of the word “Jus"
meaning joining or fitting. Thus, justice carries the meaning of cementing and joining
up human beings together. The values of liberty equality and fraternity are important
in any system of law and justice These values exist in different proportions and there
are conflicts between them too. Therefore, there is need for a constant process of
adjustment between the conflicting claims of these values in a society. In this way
justice assumes the key role of an adjuster and synthesiser. It reconciles the claims of
one person with another. The concept of justice is not static. With the changes in the
society, the concept of justice has also changed from time to time. Justice is an
evolutionary concept. Hence, it is essential to examine the concept from the time of
ancient Greece to the present day. It should also include a discussion on the ancient
Indian concept of justice to find out how the idea of justice as conceived by the
ancient Hindus was evolved.

 THE CONCEPT OF JUSTICE:

The concept of justice is as old as origin and growth of human society itself. The
social nature of man demands that he must live peacefully in society. while living so,
he experiences a conflict of interests and expects rightful conduct on the part of
others. This is the reason why Salmond and Roscoe Pound have emphasised the
importance of justice in their definitions of law. According to Blackstone, “justice is a
reservoir from where the concept of right, duty and equity evolves.”
Salmond further opines that though every man wants others to be righteous and just
towards him, he himself being selfish by nature may not be reciprocal in responding
justly. This is why some kind of external force is necessary for maintaining an orderly
society. For Salmond, without justice, an orderly society is unthinkable. Another
essential of the notion of justice is the element of impartiality imbibed in it. One has
to be just and fair not only to himself but towards all members of the society. the
violation of justice which is enforced by the law results into state sanction which is
generally called punishment. This is rather indispensable for sound administration of
justice.1

 DEFINITION OF JUSTICE:

“Justice is a reservoir from where the concept of right, duty, and equity evolves.”
-BLACKSTONE.
 “Justice is the quality of individual, the individual mind. It can be understood by
studying the mind of man, its functions, qualities or virtues. Mind is not homogeneous
but heterogeneous, and in fact, has three elements, viz., appetite, spirit and reason, and
works accordingly.”

-PLATO.

 ROLE OF JUSTICE:

Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought. A


theory however elegant and economical must be rejected or revised if it is untrue;
likewise, laws and institutions no matter how efficient and well-arranged must be
reformed or abolished if they are unjust. Each person possesses an inviolability
founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override. For
this reason, justice denies that the loss of freedom for some is made right by a greater
good shared by others. It does not allow that the sacrifices imposed on a few are

1
DR. N.V. PARANJAPE, STUDIES IN JURISPRUDENCE AND LEGAL THEORY,257, CENTRAL LAW AGENCY,
ALLAHABD, 9TH EDITION 2019.
outweighed by the larger sum of advantages enjoyed by many. Therefore, in a just
society the liberties of equal citizenship are taken as settled; the rights secured by
justice are not subject to political bargaining or to the calculus of social interests. The
only thing that permits us to acquiesce in an erroneous theory is the lack of a better
one; analogously, an injustice is tolerable only when it is necessary to avoid an even
greater injustice. Being first virtues of human activities, truth and justice are
uncompromising.2

 JUSTICE ACCORDING TO LAW:

The modern version of the concept of justice is expressed in terms of “justice


according to law”, which Dicey has called the ‘Rule of Law’. This presupposes that
law and justice apply to all alike without any differentiation whatsoever, that is “no
one is above law”. From this point of view, he considers it unnecessary to distinguish
between civil and criminal justice and treats them as violations of public justice.3

 TYPES OF JUSTICE:

Broadly speaking, justice may be of two kinds, namely civil and criminal. Blackstone
preferred to call them private wrongs and public wrongs. The former are violations
of civil or legal rights of individuals called civil injuries, while the latter are in the
nature of violation of public rights and duties which affect community as whole and
are called crime or misdemeanours. Thus, a crime is a wrong against the community
as a whole and is punishable by the State, the civil wrong, on the other hand, is an
infringement of the legal right of individual which does not affect the society in
general and is redressable by monetary compensation.
2
JOHN RAWLS, A THEORY OF JUSTICE, 03, THE BELKNAP PRESS OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS CAMBRIDGE,
MASSACHUSETTS, REVISED EDITION.
3
DR. N.V. PARANJAPE, STUDIES IN JURISPRUDENCE AND LEGAL THEORY,258, CENTRAL LAW AGENCY,
ALLAHABD, 9TH EDITION 2019.
Again, from the point of view of procedure also civil justice differs from criminal
justice. Apart from the fact that civil justice, is administered in civil courts whereas
criminal justice is administered in criminal courts, in the former, the remedies are
sought by aggrieved parties but in case of crimes, the criminal proceedings are
instituted by the state. It may thus be concluded that the difference between civil and
criminal justice is not to be considered in terms of nature and consequence of the act
but the legal implications which follow as a result of the act. Though the line of
distinction between civil and criminal justice may be very thin and even overlapping
at times, yet this distinction has a practical implication keeping in view the object,
method, of enforcement and impact on the individual and the society. The exception
does not in any way undermine the basic difference between civil and criminal
justice.4
Some other kinds of justice are as follows: -

NATURAL JUSTICE: Man, as a member of society has to mould his behaviour so


that he can act in a proper way without disturbing the feelings of others Thus to mould
the behaviour of an individual to his fellow beings in accordance with the laws of
nature implies natural justice.

ECONOMIC JUSTICE: The concept of economic justice is very wide. Economic


justice is nothing but a corollary of social justice. It evolves equal economic values,
opportunity and right for all and prohibition of economic discrimination between man
and woman in economic matters.

POLITICAL JUSTICE: Political justice prevails in a society where everyone has a


share in the political process. The state should establish political justice by creating
conditions under which all including the minorities find scope for exercising their
political rights in pursuance of a system of Universal Adult Suffrage, rule of law,
achievement values as opposed to ascriptive values.

 THE CONCEPT OF SOCIAL JUSTICE:


4
DR. N.V. PARANJAPE, STUDIES IN JURISPRUDENCE AND LEGAL THEORY,259, CENTRAL LAW AGENCY,
ALLAHABD, 9TH EDITION 2019.
The concept of social-economic Justice is a living concept and gives substance to the
rule of law and meaning and significance to the ideal of a welfare State. The Indian
constitution is an illustration of the forces at work in socio-economic Jurisprudence. It
sets out the Directive principles of State Policy fundamental to the governance of the
country and spells out a social order in which Justice, Social, economic and political,
shall inform all the Institutions of National life.5
Social justice is a very indeterminate expression and no clear-cut definition thereof
can be laid down. Strictly speaking, social justice means removal of injustices in the
personal relations of the people, but the term is used in a much broader perspective to
connote removal of imbalances in the political, social and economic life of the people.
It seeks to provide necessary help to the underprivileged so that they may have equal
opportunity in life. The aim is to uplift underprivileged sections without unduly and
unreasonably affecting the interests of the upper section in the social setting.6

 JOHN RAWLS CONCEPT OF JUSTICE:

A significant study on the subject of justice appeared a few years ago which puts its
author John Rawls in the category of great political thinkers like Plato, Kant, Mill. A
thorough going attempt to formulate a general theory of justice is that of Professor
John Rawls (b.1921) of Harvard University He writes mainly from the angle of
philosophy and political science rather than of Law7. Since its publication in 1971 it
has received wide attention. Professor Rawls assumes that society is a more or less
self-sufficient association of persons, who in their mutual relations recognise as
binding certain rules of conduct specifying a system of co-operation Principles of
social justice are necessary for making a rational choice between various available
systems8. The way in which a concept of justice specifies basic rights and duties will
affect problems of efficiency, coordination and stability. This is why it is necessary to
have a rational e conception of justice. Practical rationality has three aspects, namely
5
S. K. K. Gupta ‘minimum Bonus –A search for social justice ILI 1983. Journal vol .25 p. 390
6
DR. N.V. PARANJAPE, STUDIES IN JURISPRUDENCE AND LEGAL THEORY,259, CENTRAL LAW AGENCY,
ALLAHABD, 9TH EDITION 2019.
value, right and moral worth. In modern times, contractual nature of justice was
explored by Kant that influenced John Rawls. A social contract test of political
policies is, in Kant's view a way to secure that acknowledgement by hypothetically
involving each member of the society in the assessment of those policies in a way that
respect his interest and perspectives as an individual. Rawls also believes that a
contract test takes the individual seriously in a way that utilitarian does not.
Rawls justice is concerned not merely with human welfare but also with individual’s
welfare. Rawls argues that adequate theory of justice must morally respond to, and
preserve the "distinction of persons". The idea of the "original position" and the "Veil
of ignorance" as given by Rawls may be understood in the light of this interpretation
that the people as negotiators have general wisdom but particular ignorance They
strive to protect and promote their material interest, but in doing so they are unable to
distinguish their interests with the interests of others They can protect and promote
their interest by depending upon the system of law and justice of a country.

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