Procedural justice versus substantive justice - Research Paper Example

Substantive justice follows laws that define, regulate and create the obligations of certain parties, which should be carried or no carried out towards others meaning that this form of justice falls under the cause of action, but not proactive. This is such that individuals bring forth their issues to the bodies charged with the responsibility to safeguard and ensure that the obligations set for the people are followed. As such, substantive justice ensures and creates opportunities for people whose rights have been violated to present their grievances, but not to prevent this violation.

Thus, it serves as a form of punitive measure to see to it that those who fail to honor their part of the bargain in relation to following a defined code and obligation face justice (Sandefur, n.d). Substantive justice applies mainly in the issue of rights, where there remains controversy as to how one can define rights under a justice system, since its origin lies in the term “due process of the law.” Following this development in substantive justice, it is applied in the issue of rights, as a distinct characteristic in rights does not appear in other forms of law or justice.

In rights, they are defined and one is obliged to pay attention to them lest they end up violating their own rights or even those of others. Substantive justice, therefore, sets guidelines within which one conducts oneself and binds one actions to the consequences. Based on the history of substantive justice as the due process of the law, guidelines ensure that there exists a definition of terms or procedures through which one must go through in order for certain events to take place. Substantive justice also sets the circumstances under which things are done and failure to which certain consequences are issued, as it provides a diverse framework, which creates the conditions that people relate to each other and how people relate with the government.

It also sets out how an individual is responsible for everything that he or she engages in, as substantive justice offers definitions , regulations and obligations to govern the above said relationships. To build more on the relationships between people and the government, it is important to look into the role of substantive justice in seeing to it that the government carries out its responsibilities or obligations. Concerning this, substantive justice creates a clear distinction between valid laws and invalid ones, which acts as a means of discerning, that which is rights and that which is wrong according to the actions of the government towards its people.

Substantive justice calls for a clear definition of these standards, where those charged with the responsibility of justice are bound to come up with standards of generality, regularity, fairness, rationality and public orientation. The above is meant to apply to the activities of the people towards each other and the government towards its people, as well as the people towards governance, which is a form of prohibition of abuse of power against the people by the government and the people towards the government (Sandefur, n.d). This is due to the high possibility of using public interests for personal gain or ends, which is common in an arbitral nature of the law, and that explains the role of substantive justice.

One of the benefits of this law is its definitive nature, where it sets clear stipulations against