justice

Justice

The proper administration of the law; the fair and equitable treatment of all individuals under the law. A title given to certain judges, such as federal and state supreme court judges.

justice

n. 1) fairness. 2) moral rightness. 3) a scheme or system of law in which every person receives his/her/its due from the system, including all rights, both natural and legal. One problem is that attorneys, judges, and legislatures often get caught up more in procedure than in achieving justice for all. Example: the adage "justice delayed is justice denied," applies to the burdensome procedures, lack of sufficient courts, clogging the system with meritless cases, and the use of the courts to settle matters which could be resolved by negotiation. The imbalance between court privileges obtained by attorneys for the wealthy and for the person of modest means, the use of delay and "blizzards" of unnecessary paper by large law firms, and judges who fail to cut through the underbrush of procedure all erode justice. 4) an appellate judge, the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the U. S. Supreme Court, a member of a Federal Court of Appeal, and judges of any of the various state appellate courts.

justice

noun aequitas, equitableness, equity, fair play, fair treatment, fairness, freedom from bias, impartiality, iustitia, justness, objectivity, probity, reason, reasonableness, rectitude, reparation, right, righteousness, rightfulness, uprighteousness
Associated concepts: due administration of justice, ends of justice, equity, fleeing from justice, fugitive from justice, in furtherance of justice, in the interests of justice, miscarriage of justice, obstructing justice, preventive justice, speedy justice, substantial justice
Foreign phrases: Melior est justitia vere praeveniens quam severe puniens.Truly preventive justice is better than severe punishment. Justitia non est neganda non differenda. Justice is neither to be denied nor delayed. In re propria iniquum admodum est alicui licentiam tribuere sententiae. It is unjust for anyone to assign to himself the privilege of deciding his own case. Sacramentum habet in se tres comites,-veritatem, justiiiam, et judicium; veritus habenda est in jurato; justitia et justicium in judice. An oath has in it three compooents-truth, justice, and judgment; truth in the party swearing; justice and judgment in the judge administering the oath. Justitia est constans et perpetua voluntas jus suum cuique tribuendi. Justice is the constant and perretual means to render to each one his rights. Lex dilaaiones semper exhorret. The law always abhors delays. Boni judicis est ampliare justitiam. It is the duty of a good judge to make precedents which amplify justice. Discretio est scire per legem quid sit justum. Discretion consists in knowing through the law what is just. Justitia est duplex, viz., severe puniens et vere praeveniens. Justice is double, that is to say punishing severely, and truly preventing. Nulli vendemus, nulli negabimus, aut differemus rectum vel justitian. We will sell to none, we will deny to none, we will delay to none, either equity or justice. Justitia non novit patrem nec matrem; solum verrtatem spectat justitia. Justice knows neither father nor mother; justice looks to the truth alone. Quod ad jus nattrale attinet omnes homines aequales sunt. All men are equal as far as the natural law is concerned. Accipere quid ut justitiam facias, non est tam accipere quam extorruere. The acceptance of a reward for doing justice is not so much an acceptance as an extortion. Justitia nemini neganda est. Justice is to be denied to no one. Plena et celeris justitia fiat partibus. Let full and speedy justice be done to the parties. Jure naturae aequum est neminem cum alterius detrimento et injuria fieri locupletiorem. According to the laws of nature, it is just that no one should be enriched by the detriment and injury of another. Fiat justitia, ruat coelum. Let right be done, though the heavens fall. Nihil magis justum est quam quod necessarium est. Nothing is more just than what is necessary. Lex non deficit in justitia exhibenda. The law does not fail in dispensing justice. Bonus judex secundum aequum et bonum judicat, et aequitatem stricto juri praefert. Good judges decide according to what is just and right, and prefer equity to strict law. Lex plus laudatur quando ratione probatur. The law is most praiseworthy when it is consistent with reason. Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt. The laws aid the vigilant and not those who slumber. Judex bonus nihil ex arbitrio suo faciat, nec propositione domesticae voluntatis, sed juxta leges et jura pronunciet. A good judge should do nothing of his own arbitrary will, nor on the dictate of his personal wishes, but should decide according to law and justice. Qui aliquid statterit, parte inaudita altera, aequum licet dixerit, haud aeeuum fecerit. He who decides anything without hearing both sides, although he may decide correctly, has by no means acted justly. Fraus et jus nunquam cohabitant. Fraud and justice never dwell together. Festinatio justitiae est noverca infortunii. The hastening of justice is the stepmother of misfortune. Commodum ex injuria sua non habere debet. No person ought to derive any advantage by his own wrong. Veritas habenda est in juratore; justitia et judicium in judice. Truth should be possessed by a juror; justice and judgment by a judge. Jus est ars boni et aequi. Law is the science of what is good and just. Lex est dictamen rationis. Law is the dictate of reason. Lex est ratio summa, quae jubet quae sunt utilia et necessaria et contraria prohibet. That which is law is the consummation of reason, which commands those things useful and necessary, while prohibiting the contrary. Sequi debet potentia justitiam, non praeeedere. Power ought to follow justice, not precede it. Summa caritas est facere justitiam singulis, et omni temmore quando necesse fuerit. The greatest charity is to do justice to everyone, and at all times when it is necessary.

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See also: bench, condemnation, court, disinterest, equity, ethics, fairness, judge, jurist, magistrate, moderation, objectivity, principle, probity, punishment, rectitude, retribution, right

justice

see NATURAL JUSTICE.

JUSTICE. The constant and perpetual disposition to render every man his due. Just. Inst. B. 1, tit. 1. Toullier defines it to be the conformity of our actions and our will to the law. Dr. Civ. Fr. tit. prel. n. 5. In the most extensive sense of the word, it differs little from virtue, for it includes within itself the whole circle of virtues. Yet the common distinction between them is that that which considered positively and in itself, is called virtue, when considered relatively and with respect to others, has the name of justice. But justice being in itself a part of virtue, is confined to things simply good or evil, and consists in a man's taking such a proportion of them as he ought.
     2. Justice is either distributive or commutative. Distributive justice is that virtue whose object is to distribute rewards and punishments to each one according to his merits, observing a just proportion by comparing one person or fact with another, so that neither equal persons have unequal things, nor unequal persons things equal. Tr. of Eq. 3, and Toullier's learned note, Dr. Civ. Fr. tit. prel. n. 7, note.
     3. Commutative justice is that virtue whose object it is to render to every one what belongs to him, as nearly as may be, or that which governs contracts. To render commutative justice, the judge must make an equality between the parties, that no one may be a gainer by another's loss. Tr. Eq. 3.
     4. Toullier exposes the want of utility and exactness in this division of distributive and commutative justice, adopted in the compendium or abridgments of the ancient doctors, and prefers the division of internal and external justice; the first being a conformity of our will, and the latter a conformity of our actions to the law: their union making perfect justice. Exterior justice is the object of jurisprudence; interior justice is the object of morality. Dr. Civ. Fr. tit. prel. n. 6 et 7.
     5. According to the Frederician code, part 1, book 1, tit. 2, s. 27, justice consists simply in letting every one enjoy the rights which he has acquired in virtue of the laws. And as this definition includes all the other rules of right, there is properly but one single general rule of right, namely, Give every one his own. See, generally, Puffend. Law of Nature and Nations, B. 1, c. 7, s. 89; Elementorum Jurisprudentiae Universalis, lib. 1, definito, 17, 3, 1; Geo. Lib. 2, c. 11, s. 3; Ld. Bac. Read. Stat. Uses, 306; Treatise of Equity, B. 1, c. 1, s. 1.