David's Blog

I had a look to see what justice means with Google. Interestingly, I found the following list of interpersonal skills required by the State of Ontario for the selection of a Justice of the Peace  as an example:

• Compassion, empathy, and respect for the essential dignity of all persons
• Courtesy
• Patience
• Moral courage and high ethics
• A reputation for honesty, integrity and fairness
• Strong, dignified interpersonal skills that command authority
• Confidence, with an absence of pomposity and authoritarian tendencies

The only thing I would remove is the words "A reputation for". This list then reflects fairly closely the way I understand the term.

In contrast, we have the Law, defined as: "the system of rules which a particular country or community recognises as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties."

So, on the one hand we have justice, which is generally represented as in the image on this page, as the blind goddess Themis, who, in Greek mythology, is the personification of divine or natural law, order, and justice. Her name means justice. On the other hand, we the law, based on rules and regulations set by humans.

Just comparing the two definitions, demonstrates why there is so little justice within the law.
Laws are written by people and as such, have no universal meaning, such as that implied by the word "justice".

The consequences we can read about (or, if unlucky, experience first hand) on a daily basis. It shows it's bias in almost every aspect of our lives, from the way certain groups are able to flout the laws or bend them to their purpose, always in pursuit of selfish motives. Laws are written by lawyers, and, if you can afford one, a lawyer is trained to spot all the little weasel words which can be exploited to ensure the paying client does not pay the penalty at all, or at is at least reduced considerably.

What has that got to do with justice? The law is decidedly not blind, but looks exactly at the benefits to any accused who can pay. The law is a reflection of the values of a society and justice and fairness do not play any role, except in the form of lip service by those who write and then exploit those laws for their own benefit.

I am really not going to list examples. just read any newspaper or look at what people are demonstrating for. They want equality and fairness and justice. Not a chance, sadly. Maybe a little tweak here and there but not much more.