LAW AND JUSTICE

Laws are instruments to achieve justice. Law is treated not the end in itself but it is always to
be taken as a means to achieve the end, which is serving justice. Justice on the other hands
involves the recognition, application, and enforcement of laws by courts, representing what is
deemed right and just within a given context. Justice serves as an instrument to create a balance
in the society by ensuring just conduct and fairness.
LAW JUSTICE
Law is a system of rules that is developed in Justice refers to the quality of being fair and
order to govern/regulate human conduct. it is based on equality and morality.
Law has legal backing as it is created by a Justice is not created by a law so it has moral
statute. backing.
Laws can be enacted, modified, repealed Justice has a universal value and does not
according to the changes and requirements. change.
Laws are concrete. Justice is abstract.
Operation of Justice
Distributive Justice: It works to ensure fair division of resources, benefits or burden among
the members of a society.
Corrective Justice: It focuses on repairing harm to secure a balance in the society. Example,
punishing the wrongdoer.
KINDS OF JUSTICE
1. Public Justice: Public justice is the kind of justice that the state administers through its
tribunals and courts. It explains the relationship between courts and citizens of a state.
2. Private Justice: Private justice regulates the legal relationship between individuals. It is
limited to people enforcing concepts of justice amongst each other without approaching
courts.
3. Civil Justice: Civil justice generally refers to private wrongs that affect specific people or
entities. For example, a breach of a contract between two parties will affect only one of
them. To get justice in case of civil wrong a person should approach civil courts.
4. Criminal Justice: Criminal justice affects society in general even if specific people are
victims. For example, the murder affects specific victims only but the law treats it as a
crime against society.
5. Social Justice: Social Justice aims to provide equal opportunities for every individual to
develop his inherent qualities. Social Justice is taken to mean that all the people in a society
are to be equal and there is be no discrimination based on religion, caste, creed, colour, sex,
or status.
6. Economic Justice: Economic justice demands that all citizens should have adequate
opportunities to earn their livelihood and get fair wages which can enable them to satisfy
their basic needs and help them to develop further. The state should provide them economic
security during illness, old age, and in the event of a disability.
7. Political Justice: Political justice means giving equal political rights and opportunities to
all citizens to take part in the administration of the country. Citizens should have the right
to vote without any discrimination based on religion, colour, caste, creed, sex, birth, or
status.
 LAW AND MORALITY
Law and morals, both govern he human conduct. Laws are formal rules that govern how
humans have to behave. Morality is an informal framework of values, principles and way of
living. Law and morality are historically intertwined as they both aim to establish a just, fair,
and orderly society, reducing conflicts. Jurists emphasize the necessity for law to adhere to
moral standards to gain public acceptance as if laws are against moral standards people will be
hesitant to follow the same and it would create conflicts.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAW AND MORALITY
LAW MORALITY
Law is derived from an external source Morality emerges from internal sources,
which means that it is obtained through rules i.e., it comes from the individual mind of a
and regulations. person.
Law treats all people in the same manner and Morality is a subjective concept and changes
doesn’t change from person to person. from person to person.
Disobedience of the law leads to punishment. Since morality is a subjective concept there
are no such thing as punishments.
Morality has influenced the creation of laws. Morality existed in society even before laws
were created.
Laws lay down mandatory behaviour that is Morality is more of a personal concept and
expected out of the people. varies form person to person so there are no
such strict guidelines of how one should
morally behave.
Law is enforced by an identified agency. There are no such agencies to enforce
morality.
VIEWS OF POSITIVIST AND NATURALIST SCHOOLS ON THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN LAW AND MORALITY
POSITIVIST – HLA HART NATURALIST – LON FULLER
Law and morality are distinct and not There is a necessary connection between law
interdependent. and morals. According to Fuller, all legal
norms are founded on moral norms and must
pass the test of morality for validity.
Views that legal alignment with moral Fuller introduces the concepts of the internal
standards isn't mandatory, morality of law (law formation procedures)
and external morality of law (essential
principles for decision-making) to be
influenced by morality.
In Queen v. Dudley and Stephen, four men were in a ship and the ship was shit by a storm.
They starved for days and so Dudley and Stephen men decided to kill the cabin boy to live.
They killed him and stayed alive. after few days they were rescued and were charged with
murder of the cabin boy. The case discussed whether, at that moment, the man being morally
right for saving his own life could be excused from the chains of law. However, a clear
distinction was made between law and morality and it was observed that personal
inconvenience or an attempt to save your life by killing another cannot be used as a
justification.