justice

Justice is the moral standard by which law is judged. Aristotle distinguished distributive justice (fair allocation of benefits and burdens) from corrective justice (righting wrongs between individuals). Modern theories include utilitarianism (the greatest happiness of the greatest number), Rawls’s justice as fairness (principles chosen behind a veil of ignorance), and Nozick’s entitlement theory.

The Preamble to the Constitution of India promises justice “social, economic and political”, and the Directive Principles (Articles 38 and 39A) direct the State to secure a social order based on justice and to provide equal justice and free legal aid. Legal justice, the justice the courts administer according to law, may not always coincide with moral justice.

Example

The Preamble places social, economic and political justice before liberty and equality.

In Indian law

• Preamble and Articles 38 and 39A, Constitution of India

See also

natural justice · utilitarianism · restorative justice · rule of law

Read more in the study notes

• Administrative law: meaning, nature, scope, growth and sources (Administrative Law)
• Separation of powers and its bearing on administrative law (Administrative Law)
• Classification of administrative action (Administrative Law)
• Control of delegated legislation: parliamentary, procedural and judicial (Administrative Law)
• Judicial power of the administration: quasi-judicial functions and administrative adjudication (Administrative Law)
• The rule against bias (Administrative Law)