Definition of Justice (Dreptatea) To act justly means to act in accordance to moral norms or act according to certain values. Moral norms vs. Legal norms: Moral norms help distinguish right from wrong Legal norms are accompanied by punishments which the community applies to those who broke them

Justice, Rights, and Truth Justice is connected with the recognition of individual rights. These rights are recognized by constitutions and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Justice is also connected with truthfulness, especially in a legal context. All parties to a trial a required to tell the truth, and in a many ways a trial is about establishing what really happened

Historical Conceptions of Justice Much thought has been given to the distributive aspect of justice (drepatea distributiva). Aristotle (4 th century BCE) thought the distribution of goods, services, and social status should be based on merit Karl Marx (19 th century) thought goods should be distributed according to individual need John Rawls (20 th century) thought a society can be unequal provided – there should be no barriers for people to work to attain goods, services and social status – Existing inequalities should function to the benefit of the most disadvantaged

Distributive Justice Refers to the way in which members of the communities receive goods, rewards, free time, honors, etc. But this also refers to how disadvantages are distributed (costs, taxes, fines etc.) Distributive Justice must meet the following criteria: A) all persons who are alike must receive benefits or disadvantages according to the same criteria B) When persons are not alike (ex: children vs. adults) the criteria must differ.

Corrective Justice Refers to the punishments administered by a community when a person has been harmed in some way. Corrective Justice must fulfill the following criteria Punishment should be in proportion to the offense As much as possible, the harm done must be repaired The person who committed the offense should be prevented from doing so again Other people should be deterred from committing the same offense

Procedural Justice Is put into practice through the legal system. Legal norms allow justice to be put into practice. Legal norms are set forth in national an international law In many cases, justice means redressing an unjust situation (dreptate corectiva) But procedural justice implies certain c=rights for the accused To be treated in an impartial manner To have a lawyer To tell his/her version of events To bring witnesses that corroborate his/her version of events

Equality and Justice People are unequal because of wealth, education, social status, or access to power Historically, access to resources privileged those of noble (aristocratic) birth. Social and Economic inequality has often been criticized as unjust and caused many revolts and revolutions Socialist regimes in Eastern Europe tried to distribute goods and services among citizens according to need. At the same time, they severely limited private property

Equality and Justice (cont.) 1989 Revolutions led to the demise of state socialism and the recognition and reestablishment of private property This created an new social, political, and economic context that encouraged competition and differentiation along economic and social criteria Experience has shown that full socio-economic equality is difficult to achieve. Even wealthy, industrialized countries find it a challenge to provide long-term social protection (pensions, subsidies for children, help for people with illnesses or disabilities) The population of most wealthy counties is composed of the so-called “middle class” – neither poor nor very rich