Relations and Tension between Justice and Law - Essay Example

Relations and Tension betweens Justice and Law Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Abstract The paper outlines the relationship between law and justice and how they work together to enhance order in a state. The paper provides a clear picture of law and justice. It also contains all the details of law and its types as well as justice and its types. The paper further focuses on the tensions that affect the law and justice of the states. Lastly, it comes up with the solutions to the tensions caused by different processes. Table of Contents Abstract 1 Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Law 3 Types of laws 4 Admiralty Law 4 Aviation Law 5 Bankruptcy Law 5 Civil rights 5 Corporate Law 5 Criminal Law 6 Justice 6 Types of justice 6 Distributive justice 6 Procedural justice 7 Restorative justice 7 Retributive justice 7 Relationship between Law and Justice 8 Tensions in justice and law 9 Solutions to the tensions 11 Conclusion 13 Bibliography 14 Introduction Justice refers to what is fair, right, appropriate, deserved. It refers to equality where everyone should be treated the same way. Law on the other hand is the system of rules set to maintain order and protect harm to property and person in a society. Law and justice are the main equipments that govern a nation. There are various types of law and justice practiced in different parts of the world. However there are certain global principals that are governed by the international criminal court (ICC). The ultimate aim of this paper is to explain the different types of laws, how they work, the tensions involved and the solutions to the tensions. It also explains justice, how it is practiced and its effectiveness, the tensions it faces and the solutions to such tensions. Law Law is a rule or body of rules of conduct inherent in the nature of human and necessary to bind upon human society. It can also be said to be a generalization that gives a description of recurring facts or events in nature. There are varieties of laws worldwide in fact; many countries have thousands of pages of law (Brennan, 2007). The laws are mostly enforced by the police forces and supported by prison systems and courts. They are written by legislators like congressmen or senators. In most countries, laws support and not oppose the constitution which is a document that holds the basic rules of a county. There are various categories of law which include the contract law, trust law, tort law criminal law, constitutional law, administrational law and the international law. Every law rules for a distinct area of human activity. It should be noted that without law, there is a state of lawlessness which affected the society in ancient days. Sometimes it caused the economy of a nation to come to a halt thus showing how serious it can be at the state of lawlessness. The people whose work is to advocate the eradication of all laws are known as the anarchists. Types of laws There are various types of laws and some of the major ones are as follows; Admiralty Law It is also referred to as the maritime law which is used by all countries to govern the country’s vessels without considering the ocean they are ceiling in. they govern matters concerning oil pollution, cargo disputes, international trade, fishing regulations as well as the docks and vessel’s injuries (Sudakar, 2010). The maritime attorneys are also responsible for giving advises to trade laws, protection of endangered species and environmental groups under legal matters. The law also governs the passenger and freight liabilities. Aviation Law These are laws that are set by the federal government and the state to facilitate safety in air traffic. In United States, the law governs the maintenance of the facilities of aircraft, as well as the air craft operations. Bankruptcy Law This refers to an individual or a company that files for debt relief. In the United States, there are specialty attorneys and specific courts which handle bankruptcy cases and rulings. The law is enforced to give the debtors a financial fresh start. Civil rights These are the laws that govern the privileges and rights of the citizens of a country. This is the responsibility of the civil right’s attorney. Some of the rights under this category are; freedom to vote, freedom from slavery, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of press and the public equality treatment. Corporate Law This refers to a legal entity that is usually created through its incorporation state laws. Each state has the right to distribute laws relating to organization, creation and dissolution of corporations (Sudakar, 2010). Most states have the business corporation model Act for example, the United States. Criminal Law Crime is violation of the forbidden public laws. Most of the law crimes are established by local, state and federal governments. These laws are not the same in all the countries; they vary from one state to another. However, there is a model penal code that helps understand the basic criminal liability structure. This is useful to all nations. Note that these are just but a few of the laws. There are many others that have not been mentioned. Justice Justice involves doing things in accordance to the laws and its requirements. It does not matter whether the rules are set for human consensus or social norms; their work is to ensure all the public members receive fair and equal treatment (Law and Justice, 2011). Justice issues originate from various spheres and play a crucial role in perpetuating, causing and addressing conflict. The function of the justice institutions is to enhance stability, satisfaction and well-being among the members of the society. There are various types of justice and justice systems and here are the four major ones that people can seek when wronged; Types of justice Distributive justice It is also referred to as economic justice because it is about fairness on what people attain from attention to goods. This form of justice is under the communism root for social order where the fundamental principle is equality (Brennan, 2007). Therefore, if people feel that they do not get what they deserve, they should seek this form of justice as well as others. Procedural justice The fairness principle also applies here where a person is liable of all public services and properties. In case he or she is denied the accessibility to such things then he or she is liable of seeking distributive justice. Restorative justice This involves putting things back to normal. This justice is implemented when a person has been betrayed and he or she wants to restitute. The simple form of restitution is the straightforward apology. It also includes contrition actions to show that a person is really sorry. Therefore, it can involve actions or some extra payment to the offended. This is why the restorative justice is also called corrective justice as it involves some actions of correction to the offender (Law and Justice, 2011). Retributive justice The restoration process sometimes may not satisfy the offended person and therefore he or she may go further to seek revenge to the betrayer. E they feel that the betrayer should as well feel the pain they have gone through thus ready to take revenge. This is where retributive justice comes in where it protects the betrayer we who has already apologized and may be compensated the offended. It should be noted that revenge can be many times more severe than reparation and should be protected before it takes place. Relationship between Law and Justice Law is formed in order to be obeyed and respected. When this law is implemented then justice will have been done to that particular person, people or company. Therefore justice is fulfilling the laws of the land and constitution. That is why law and justice are not synonymous. Law is a social regulator and justice is a moral value. The law has a significant effect on the community because through it, justice and injustice are experienced by the members of the society. However, it should be clear that law is an instrument of bringing justice to pass which is done through allotment to every man’s due in the society. When law is enforced injustice is no longer experienced by individuals. In a wide range of democracy, majority of people find the law to be attractive and favorable to them as they protect the people and their properties though they bear harshly to some few individuals. This means that the wish and will of majority becomes an instrument of oppression to minority. A source of frustration for majority of people may be as a result of individual interest but then, the laws which cause injustice to individuals are hard to justify. A community or an individual cannot justify seeking own advantage if the advantage is to be guaranteed visiting injustice by an individual on a few or minority. This is the reason why the lawyers are very crucial in the society as they make sure that the law is enforced, followed and respected by each and every person in the society. I does not matter the title a person has or the name he or she has, their focus is on individual and individual position’s justice. The content and scope of the law is monitored by justice. No law even if it is supported by the majority should be reinforced if it works injustice to some (Brennan, 2007). This brings us to the basic meaning of injustice. It means a state of lawlessness, where justice is not practiced. In a democratic society, freedom of restricting law should be kept minimal and any limitations to imposing the law should be accompanied by some good reasons. Freedom implies that human person should have fullest expression and opportunity to achieve human potential. This means that any person in the society should have all the freedoms posed by the law and has the rights to everything that the law allows (Hyman, 2005). This is the true meaning of justice because when all that happens then justice is attained. The law that inflicts liabilities or duties in accordance to freedom must be justified by the need to advance in protecting common good. Therefore, they must be targeted to protect common good and they must as well be refrained from inflicting individual injustice as they must be proportionate to damages that could occur in case the law was not imposed. Unjust laws weaken the rule of law because the injustice even if it’s to the few ultimately stimulates in many people thus erosion of the authority of the law. These considerations have great significance for both lawyers and the content of the law. In conclusion, it should be noted that the aim of all legal systems is to achieve justice therefore; there is a relationship between the two which work hand in hand. When this is gotten wrong, there are mechanisms in place such as judges, lawyers and the lay people. Law enforce to bring justice is what has made many countries to develop and have stable economies. Tensions in justice and law When the law is broken by an individual, it is the work of the policemen to arrest and put that particular person in prison to await his or her case in the court. It should be clear that most of the tensions in the law and justice systems are incorporated at the court. The court is supposed to justify the law but there are a times when the opposite happens. Most of the judges and lawyers get engaged in corrupt practices that lead to a state of lawlessness where justice is not attained at all. This happens mostly when the offenders are prominent or rich people whose main aim is to exploit the miner and poor people respectively. The judges are bribed by these prominent people and favor them in cases which should supposed to be vice versa. Thus breaking the law and justice not attained. The police forces also do the same where they are bribed and they leave or free the offenders who are guilty and are supposed to be imprisoned. These are some of the cases that cause tension in the law and justice systems whereby injustice is done to the poor and miner citizens in favor of the rich and prominent people. Just like any other law court or international organ, the international court of justice (ICJ) is also affected by certain factor which causes tension. The most likely tension to occur at the international law courts is when the member states get involved in a particular case (International Court of Justice, 2008). For instance, in a case that includes territorial jurisdiction, tension between two or more member states may arise due to claims over a certain area and may cause great tension between the member states. The case may badly affect the functioning and the procedures of the International court of justice which may force it to review the legal basis or the legal jurisdiction state laws that focus on the disputed area. This case may take a very long period of time to be settled because the international court of justice has to delay the resolution to give the states involved a humble time to settle their differences. Another major tension that may occur at the international court of justice is when some members of the magistrate are a citizen of the conflicting states. In such cases, the judge has to inhibit her or himself in order to ensure that justice is attained and not affected by any controversy of unfairness. If the judge is not smart enough to inhibit, then the losing state may question the judgment with an excuse that the decision was tainted with personal interest. The situation worsens when the case turns up to be an en banc where the decision has to be made by all the judges in the court. Therefore, in such cases the judges should be very carefully and follow the law despite being too harsh to their individual states. Another very important tension that affects the law and justice systems is the East Timor case backlog. The East Timor is said to have over 3000 pending cases that have not been solved. It was found out when the former justice minister and interior cabinet member Pessoa was appointed by President Jose Ramos to be the chief prosecutor of their local high court. Pessoa admitted that justice was indeed not served in East Timor because a country cannot contain over 3000 pending cases and still claim of justice. The time she was a cabinet member and minister, the state had around 300 pending cases only but when she stepped aside for quite sometimes, the cases increased. This means that no form of law enforcement was being implemented or followed. This is a great tension to the country as there is no form of justice being practiced meaning that there is a state of lawlessness and forms of injustice that should be dealt with immediately for its citizens to continue enjoying the freedoms and rights of citizens as per their constitution. Solutions to the tensions The tensions named and explained above are very significant and need immediate action to be taken in order for justice to be acquired. The tension that is caused by the corruption practices that involves the judges, lawyers, policemen and rich and or prominent people has lead to lots of injustices done to innocent people who deserve justice (Jerome, 1960). The main solution to this tension is the formation of the anticorruption commission which should mainly focus on the law and justice practices and make sure no form of corruptions are practiced by the judges, lawyers and police forces. The commission should have an open eye that sees through all forms of corruption practices that are practiced by the law enforcers. Minimizing corruption will enable the common citizens to acquire justice that was not being experienced due to corruption. In addition, the citizens should have access to justice. This is more crucial than the improving individual’s court access or legal guarantee representation. Access to justice is well explained as being an ability of people to seek and acquire their rights through formal institution of justice for grievances which are equal and comply to the standards of human rights (Hyman, 2005). This means that the formal and informal systems of justice should be friendly to the citizens in order for them to have the freedom of accessing them. This is because some citizens fear the system and see it as an alien thus do not access it. This happens when the justice system is not financially accessible; where persons have no lawyers, where they do not know their rights. This may as well occur due to weak system of justice. The access to justice involves legal awareness, legal aid, legal protection, adjudication, and civil society oversight as well as law enforcement. The international court of justice is able to solve the tension of cases that involve two member states through setting down strategies and laws that should govern the member states in case such a situation occurs (Kadri, 2005). The sets of rules will be enough to solve the conflict since the law will be followed. The magistrates and judges should as well be great men with great abilities which could enable them to solve such cases with wisdom. The judge must as well inhibit herself or himself for justice to be attained. In case of one or some members of the magistrate being a citizen of one of the dispute nations, then he or she should not handle or get involved in such a case. This may help attain justice because if involved, he or she may include personal interests. Where the case involves an en banc, where all the judges need to tackle the case, then law should work out to ensure justice is attained. The other judges who have no relationships with the conflicting states should ensure that those involved don’t include personal interests. For the East Timor, the appointment of judge Pessoa was a very wise decision as she was able to bring great changes to the court and justice systems. Her main objective is to reduce the cases by about 50% in a span of a year and this is very possible since she lay down very hefty and effective strategies that will ensure indeed the East Timor attains justice. She is able to coordinate well with the rest of the team under justice system and eventually justice will be restored in East Timor. Conclusion Law and justice are very crucial components of a state’s governing system as they help the country to be very stable in terms of economy and development since no form of crises related to the law systems may occur. A state or a nation has sets of laws that govern them, the major of them all being the state’s constitution. These different sets of laws ensure that all types of justice are acquired by all the citizens in the state. Equality in terms of justice and access to justice systems is very important and should be reinforced by all states as it helps greatly to enhance justice. Law and justice work hand in hand since justice cannot work out without the laws which are the principles to attainment of justice. However there are a number of tensions that occur in the law and justice systems and which affect their efficiency. The major tensions are experienced at national and international courts where decisions made by judges are sometimes affected by a number of factors that make justice not to be attained (International Court of Justice, 2008). Nevertheless, there are a number of specific solutions to each of the tension processes that ensure that justice is indeed attained. Bibliography Daniel Sudakar, (2010). Types of laws. Washington D.C. Gross, Hyman (2005). A Theory of Criminal Justice. Oxford University Press. Hall, Jerome (1960). General Principles of Criminal Law. Lexis Law Pub. International Court of Justice. (2008). International Court of Justice: The Court . Retrieved from HYPERLINK "http /www .icj-cij .org /court /index .php " http /www .icj-cij .org /court /index .php. Law and Justice. (2011). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1106001/Law-and-Justice Sadakat Kadri (2005). The Trial: A History, from O.J. Simpson. Random House, New York. Sir Gerard Brennan, (2007). Law and Justice Address, Parliament House, Sydney. Read More