Justice Definition Essay

Justice is the act of being fair, treating people equally or simply the act of practicing moral righteousness. Several people have their own definition of the word justice, but all these revolve in and around the state of being fair. However, people differ in their thinking and what is fair according to a particular person may be so unfair to another person. Justice can either be social or personal. Justice may be corded together with the concept of natural justice, which means the act of maintaining or observing what is just or morally upright. In the society today, justice is practiced by every individual, but the principle of practicing justice heavily lies upon the courts of law. The courts through the judges have a mandate to exercise justice in the course of their administration to justice. There is various principle of being just which include treating all people equally, giving people the right to be heard, respecting other people’s property amongst others.

There are circumstances under which justice has been curtailed to a very large extent. People may ask what the essence of upholding justice is. Others may ask: Is it necessary to uphold justice? These questions may be approached in different perspectives according to the people involved. There are those people who think that upholding justice is not mandatory and they may sometimes urge that every person should care for their own rights. In this view, justice is one of the most fundamental elements behind every successful society. In a society where justice is upheld, everything seems to be running smoothly, unlike in a society where every man cares for their own needs. Lack of justice causes antagonism among people.

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Every person wants to be treated right so that there is justice in the society. Justice also leads to cooperation in the society, and in turn leads to development in the society. Matters of justice may seem to be so simple but they are in fact the central part to the functioning of the society.

Some people believe that, those people who violate the rights of others should be fined or go to prison, while others think that those people who violate the rights of others should be the ones to be protected from the heavy punishment of the judicial system. When the principles of justice are ineffective, the confidence as well as the organization of the society may be undermined. Justice is usually manifesting itself through the society set up. It involves the laws that are set down by the law makers and later passed on to the rulers to exercise these laws.  Laws are often created by rulers without necessarily getting the consent of those being ruled; this is where the principle of justice and fairness come in. The best way to practice justice is believed to be through the courts system. Courts are not very easy to manipulate. When a crime is committed under the law, the person who has committed the offence is tried by the jury. The jury does not have an interest in the case meaning that the jury is fair in his proceedings.

Both the claimant and the defendant present their reasons on why the ruling should be given. After they present their case, it is now the work of the jury to determine the reality of the events that took place and to determine what which law applies and why. In case the evidence given by either is the truth, the judge will rule accordingly. This is however the theory part of it.

In practice however, the court system is always corrupt. The bias may be automatic, presumed or some other cases non-automatic but in all cases, judges should be free from bias. Where they rule according to the race or skin color good example, is the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal where he was sentenced and convicted because of his skin color. This is unfair because the people are supposed to be ensured that justice prevails in all circumstances and no one is discriminated on whatever bases it be religion, race, color or ethnicity. According to the rule of natural justice, a judge should not have an interest in a particular case, and in a situation where they have, they should not sit on the bench for hearing that case. The bias may be because the judge knows one of the accused persons has an interest in the matter or is benefiting from the matter.

Another example of where justice does not prevail is a situation where policemen beat people. This in its wider sense is assault and the police need to be prosecuted should justice prevail. A good example is where policemen who beat King Rodney were found not guilty. This is unfair and against the principle of justice and fairness.

In order for people to ensure that justice takes place, they must take their actions before lawmakers instead of taking actions on their own hands. This is because they cannot claim justice before the law yet they took their own actions on their hands. There is a famous maxim that says those who seek equity must have “clean hands” meaning that those who take law into their own hands cannot equity under the law. Another solution is that people who think that justice has not prevailed should inform their government representatives on what is to be changed. However, this might not be easy but the can employ other ways like using the civil society. Every citizen has a duty of informing politicians, which law is unjust and the government should be willing to adjust it. In addition, the legal systems must have somebody to answer to. This ensures that the government is put in check and the society is protected. Justice is the most important part of the government system. It protects people’s rights can be trivial to free living but those in power can also use pretence to ignore this rights the rights of the citizens from being ignored.