LAW N JUSTICE Q.9

• Law is defined as a set of legal principles that govern society's behaviour, which is enforced by sanctions
• Justice is defined as a concept of fairness, equality and handedness.
• Distributive justice is the fair allocation of benefits, rights and responsibilities in society.
• Aristotle

  He argues for meritocracy which allocates to individuals contributions and achievements. The links to the law and being treated how you deserve.
• Marx

  He argues 'from each according to their ability, to each according to their need' which is not reflected in capitalist society. This links to socialist principles and the welfare state in our legal system.
• Utilitarianism justice is seen when the greatest happiness is achieved for the greatest numbers.
• Bentham

  He argues the interests of the individual may be sacrificed for the greater good. E.g. Holding terrorist suspects is for public safety
• The act/rule of utilitarianism is that the law must apply to everyone as is the same with ruler utilitarianism.
• Social justice is equality in accessing rights and opportunities of all members of society, Rawls argues there is a veil of ignorance where we establish what everyone should have in order to access true equality.
• Procedural justice is where all individuals have the right to a fair trial and can access courts where procedure is applied the same in every case. It is unjust if not. E.g. Cuts to legal aid is not just
• Corrective justice is where the courts aim to restore imbalance of power between individuals by imposing a sanction or remedy. This includes miscarriages of justice, the role of the ccrc, and identifying courts just sentence.
• Substantive justice means the content of law itself must be just, such as in cases R v Brown and R v R.