Law and Justice Flashcards
How can Justice be described
Fairness, equality or even handedness
What did Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas believe
Both natural law theorists, believed law should reflect a higher order for it to be just.
What was this higher order for Aristotle
Nature
What was this higher order for Aquinas
God
According to Aristotle, who should receive the greatest share
The worthiest rather than the neediest
Was a large division between rich and poor unjust according to Aristotle
Yes and his belief in worthiest receiving greatest share could lead to this
What did Aquinas argue with regards to what they are due
People should be given to them what they are due in accordance with their merit, rank and need.
How could this be problematic
They overlap and conflict with each other
What approach did Jeremy Bentham adopt
He argued that Justice should be concerned with ‘promoting the greatest happiness of the greatest number’
What was Bentham’s attempt to measure happiness called
Felicific Calculus
What did John Rawls focus on
Individual Freedoms, describing ‘justice is fairness’ and presented a hypothetical society where no person would know their position in society
What did Rawls hypothesise people operating behind
The ‘veil of ignorance’
Whose theory would legal aid coincide with
Aquinas and it is supported by Marx
What Government Act saw the legal aid budget fall
The Legal Aid (Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders) Act 2012
What may the government argue in response to allegations of denying equality of Justice
They are pursuing a Utilitarian agenda by protecting the nation’s finances
Give two examples of people who suffer from miscarriages of Justice
Birmingham Six, Family of Stephen Lawrence
What can the broad application of Justice have an impact on
The achievement of procedural and substantive justice for individuals. However the opposite can also be the case
