Law and Justice - P1 & P3

Question 1

Oxford Definition?

Answer 1

“Just conduct; fairness.”

Question 2

Utilitarianism?

Answer 2

Jon Mill.
- Justice is achieved by maximising overall happiness and minimising overall suffering within society.

Question 3

Distributive justice?

Answer 3

A system of strict equality.
- For Aristotle, justice was about distribution and proportionality.
- Similar to current ideas on social justice and can be seen in many human rights issues (Lindsay v CCE).

Question 4

‘Equality of arms’ in distributive justice:

Answer 4

• In order to achieve justice, there should be ‘equality of arms’ within the law, meaning that parties should be on an equal footing.
• It is difficult to see how this could occur in a case where an individual is involved with larger organisations or businesses.

Question 5

Procedural injustice (+ distributive justice) and Stephen Lawrence.

Answer 5

• 1993; Stephen Lawrence was killed in a racially motivated attack.
• He did not achieve justice due to police failures during investigation.
• Not until 2012 when they were arrested.

Question 6

Arguments against Utilitarian theory?

Answer 6

• This theory could be seen as unjust if the overall happiness of society takes priority over that of the individual.

Question 7

Arguments against distributive justice?

Answer 7

• It could be argued that a predominantly white judiciary lacks the diversity needed to address the issue of racial inequality.

Question 8

Karl Marx:

Answer 8

• Marx argued that in a capitalist society, all laws are unjust.
• Justice can only be achieved by redistribution of wealth.