Administration of Justice



Administration of Justice

The two most essential functions of a state are:

i) War

ii) Administration of Justice

Administration of Justice (AOJ) implies the maintenance of peace and order within a political community by means of physical force of the State. There are, however, other factors which help administration of justice and command obedience of law. They include social sanction, public opinion, custom, convenience etc.

Concept of Justice

The concept of justice is as old as origin and growth of human society itself. The social nature of man demands that he must live peacefully in society. While living so, he experiences a conflict of interests and experts lightful conduct on the part of others. This is the reason Salmond and Roscoe Pound have emphasized the importance of justice became more important with the growth of State, which ensures justice to the people through the instrumentality of law. As the law grew, justice also expanded into different spheres of human activities for ex: civil justice, criminal, economic, social justice, distributive justice, corrective justice, social justice and so on.

The essence of legal justice lies in ensuring uniformity and certainty of aw and at the same time ensuring that rights and duties and duly respected by the people.

Another essential attribute of the notion of justice is element of impartiality. One has to just and fair not only to himself but towards all members of society.

Origin of Justice

It has four stages :

1. Early stage – When society was primitive private vengeance and self –help were only remedies available to the wronged person against the wrongdoer, his wrongs redressed with the help of friends and relatives.

2. IInd stage of development of society was characterized by State coming into existence. But it did not have power to punish the wrongdoer.

3. Wrongs could be redressed by payment of compensation by the wrongdoer to the victim who affected by wrongful act. Thus upto this time justice remained private in nature without compulsive force of the State.

4. State exerted its authority and took the responsibility of administration of justice and punishing the wrongdoer using its force whenever necessary. This stage of development showed transformation from private to public justice through the agency of the state. In other words wrong done to an individual no longer taken as private wrong but considered as offence against the State and punishable under the law.

In course of time State power, private vengeance and violent self help substituted by administration of criminal and civil justice through law courts.

Administration of Justice has chief merits like Uniformity, certainty, impartiality and Equality.

Demerits are : Rigidity, formality and complexity of laws.

Civil and Criminal Justice

1.Civil Justice has private wrongs. Criminal Justice has Public wrongs.

2. In civil justice there is a violation of civil or legal rights of individuals called as civil injuries. While in criminal justice there is a violation of public rights and duties which affect community a s whole and are called as crimes.

3. In civil justice there is infringement of legal right of individual which does not affect the society in general and redressible by monetary compensation. In criminal justice crime is wrong against the community as a whole and punishable by the State.

4.Civil justice administered in civil courts while criminal justice administered in criminal courts.

5. In civil justice remedies sought by aggrieved parties and in criminal justice criminal proceedings instituted by State.

6. In civil justice civil judge will decide whether civil rights of the plaintiff are affected or violated, entitled for any relief. In criminal justice Trial Magistrate will decide the guit or otherwise of the accused on the basis of evidence before him.

7. In civil justice civil case may result into award of compensation or dismissal of the case in criminal justice case will result in conviction or acquittal of accused.

Exceptions

1. In cases of juveniles and the first offenders they are merely admonished or released on probation rather than being sentenced.

2. There are certain wrongs such as defamation, nuisance, conspiracy, deceit etc. Both are crimes as well as torts i.e. civil wrongs.

Both civil and criminal justice overlap at times yet distinction of two has practical application keeping in view the object, method of enforcement and impact on individual and society.

Functions of Law :

1. Law as preservation of order – Public order law, criminal law.

2. Law as platform for human co-operation – Law of Contract.

3. Law as medium of dispute resolution – Law of Tort.

4. Law as tool of domination – Counter revolutionary offences.

5. Law as mechanism for social engineering – Land registration.

6. Law as bulwark of morality – decriminalizing homosexual acts between consenting adults.

7. Law as regulation of governmental powers – constitutional law, administrative law .

8. Law as protection of individual freedom – Bill of rights, anti-discrimination legislation.

9. Law as attainment of justice – Rules of natural Justice, Bill of rights, Social security Law.

Limits of Law

1. What law could not achieve e.g. Love.

2. What law should not interfere with – Private Life.

3. Law may not be the best option.

Justice , Stability and Peaceful Change

1. Maintains social order.

2. Protects public order.

3. To resolve disputes.

4. Protect certainty and durability of systems.

5. Facilitates orderly change.

6. Brings out justice in society.

7. Outlines what the Government can do and what it cannot do.

Purposes of Law

Law is not end in itself. It is an instrument to secure justice in society. Almost all theories regarding law have the purpose to secure justice.

Justice operates at three different levels:

i) Distributive Justice – According to this there should be equal distribution of benefit and burden eg. burden – Taxation and eg. benefit – Right to vote. Article 14 of Indian Constitution guarantee equal treatment for all person. It states that there is a equality before law. The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of laws within the territory of India.

ii) Further among the Directive Principles of State Policy, there is directive to secure this equality.

iii) Article 38 directs the State to secure social order for the promotion of welfare of the people.

iv) Article 38(1) directs the State to strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing and protecting as effectively as it may be a social order in which social, economical and political justice shall inform all the institutions of the national life.

v) Article 38(2) directs the State, in particular, to minimize the inequalities in income, not only amongst the individuals but also amongst groups of people residing in different areas or engaged in different vocations.

vi) Article 39 directs State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing that the citizens :

1) citizens, men and women equally, have the right to an adequate means of livelihood.

2) That the ownership and control of the material resources of the community are so distributed as best to subserve the common good.

3) That the operation of the economic system does not result in the concentration of wealth and means of production to the common detriment.

4) That there is equal pay for equal work, for both men and women.

The Court while interpreting statutes have kept in view the doctrine of distributive justice and laid emphasis on the economic development of the Dalits, Tribes and the poor as a part of distributive justice as this a fundamental right as all the persons are equal before the law.

Corrective Justice

There is always a remedy for any wrong done. It corrects the wrong done in the society. The idea which is involved is that injustice done by one person to another person should be corrected. This removes the feeling of injustice. This function is performed by courts and is known as administration of justice. The court aims to correct the injustice done by one person to the other the remedy available, so far as possible, to correct it.

Distributive Justice serves to secure a balance or equilibrium among the members of society. This balance may be upsetting sometimes. When one person wrongfully seizes property of another person. Corrective Justice makes it correct and provide the remedy to restore it through the administration of justice.

In performance of this function, Courts play a very creative role. They adapt and adjust the law to the changing needs of society. It has been stated that ‘Law as administered by courts, transforms into justice.’

Proper administration of corrective justice requires that all are equal before the law and the legal rights which each person has, should be given equal protection by the courts. There should be a fair procedure for determination of disputes. Parties related to the disputes should be given full opportunity to present their sides and judges should give free and fair decision without having any fear or favour and without making any distinction between high, law rich and poor.

In Modern times change has taken place in corrective justice. It has stepped into domain of public law. Under Indian Constitution, State has duties towards the citizens and the citizens have rights against the states which are fully enforced by courts. If State fails to perform any of its constitutional or legal duties towards the class or a group or citizens then on the petition of public or person Court has power to issue directions to the Government to perform it. This is known as Public Interest Litigation.

4. Social Justice - Every person has a right to live a dignifies life. Social Justice provides the basic requirements to live a dignifies life. Every individual gets the minimum requirement to live a dignified life. Social justice implies securing minimum life necessaries to every individual in society. The Indian Constitution aims to secure social justice. The Preamble of the Constitution and many of the Articles of part III and IV i.e. Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy are meant to ensure it. Social justice has been elevated to the status of a fundamental rights. For eg. The Rent Acts are intended to preserve the social environment and promote social justice by safeguarding the interests of the tenants mainly and the same time protecting the legitimate interest of the landlords.

In dealing with the industrial disputes, the courts have always emphasized the doctrine of social justice by providing rights to the workers who are working in industries.

Other purposes of law are :

1. Uniformity – For securing obedience to law and proper administration of justice, it is necessary that law should be fixed, certain and stable. For eg. Throughout the land the law is similar except Jammu and Kashmir.

2. Certainty – Law should be certain and stable to the society .

3. Impartiality – law is necessarily impartial. It is not made for particular person. It is same for all persons, in other words all persons are equal in the eyes of law. No partiality on the basis of caste, creed, colour or gender.

4. Flexibility – The law should be flexible . It should change accordingly with the needs of the society and circumstances .

5. Rules of law – The aim of law is to establish rule of law and not that of individuals. In the land or the country there should be rules and regulations that should be followed and not one man’s rules. The Indian Constitution establishes rule of law. And it is governed by the ruling authority in any country.

6. Stability and security of social order – law provides stability in the society as they provide equal justice to all and people are aware of their rights. But, due to its inflexibility it cannot secure proper justice in all the changing circumstances of the society.

For securing the social order – It is very necessary to keep the balance with the needs of the people because if people are dissatisfied with the delivery of justice then the obedience of law will be adversely effected.

7. Social Change – law continue to keeping in view the social changes of the society For eg. Abolition of sati, female infanticide, pardah system etc.

8. A change by an individual can also bring change in the society. For eg. Domestic violence, ragging etc. in India State and Centre legislatures by laws, decisions of high courts are present in form of precedents who have also a force in law.

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