law and justice (P1+3)

Question 1

what is justice?

Answer 1

the idea that the law is fair and how it seeks to punish wrongs and protect rights

Question 2

what is John Rawl’s metaphorical definition of justice?

Answer 2

1-the social contract (social cooperation relies on a contract people have made among themselves)
2-greatest equal liberty (basic freedoms like speech)
3-difference principles (social and economic differences are fair only if they work for the benefit of the least advantaged)

Question 3

what are the four forms of justice?

Answer 3

-formal
-substantive
-distributive
-corrective

Question 4

what is formal justice?

Answer 4

-the existence of independent institutions and processes
-treating everyone equally

Question 5

what is substantive justice?

Answer 5

-the fairness of the laws, including rights, protections and remedies provided by the legal system
-concerned with the actual just nature of laws
-eg requirement of MR for crimes

Question 6

what is distributive justice?

Answer 6

-fair allocation of resources
-eg equality acts

Question 7

what is corrective justice?

Answer 7

-liability rectifies the injustice inflicted
-eg remedies in tort

Question 8

what was Aristotle’s theory of justice?

Answer 8

-believed justice was about distribution and proportionality
-can be seen now in many social justice issues

Question 9

what was aquinas’ theory of justice?

Answer 9

-‘justice as fairness’

Question 10

what was Bentham’s theory of justice?

Answer 10

-utilitarianism, laws should try to achieve greatest happiness for greatest number of people
-individual good may have to be sacrificed for society as a whole
-r v brown

Question 11

what was Marx’ view of justice?

Answer 11

-in a capitalist society all laws are unjust
-justice can only be achieved through redistribution of wealth

Question 12

what was Nozick’s theory of justice?

Answer 12

-theory of ‘entitlement’
-society is just if everyone is entitled to the holdings they possess, but not everyone follows these rules

Question 13

what did lord denning say about justice being achieved?

Answer 13

-‘the proper role of the judge is to do justice between the parties before him. if there is any rule of law which impairs the doing of justice, then it is the province of the judge to do all he legitimately can to avoid the rule, even to change it, so as to do justice in the instant case before him’

Question 14

who opposed lord denning’s view on justice?

Answer 14

sir Robert megarry VC
said justice must be administered according to law and equity

Question 15

how do legal rules strive to achieve justice in procedural law?

Answer 15

-everyone can bring their case to court
-financial assistance
-rules of evidence ensure it’s reliable
-right to trial by jury (r v Ponting)
-judges, magistrates and Jurys must not be biased
-correctiv justice allows appeals, judicial review and the CCRC ensures justice is done
-disputes resolved using substantive laws that produce the most ‘just’ result

Question 16

how do legal rules strive to achieve justice in substantial laws?

Answer 16

-achieved through application of legal rules
-defences to justify defendants actions
-sentencing the accused should be consistent between cases
-standard of care in civil law owed by professionals is more than civilians

Question 17

examples of where rules have failed to achieve justice

Answer 17

-mandatory life term for murders, no judicial flexibility to recognise different seriousness levels (r v canning)
-rules on joint enterprise (r v jogee corrected historic mistakes that made people guilty go serious offences on a weak legal basis)

Question 18

cases where there were miscarriages of justice

Answer 18

-Timothy evans (father hanged)
-the Birmingham six (pub bombings)
-Stephen Lawrence (beaten to death)