Law And Justice A2 Law Aqa Model Answer

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Discuss the meaning of justice and consider whether justice is achieved in English Law (30 marks) There is an argument within the English Legal System as to the degree of convergence between law and Justice and its effects on the system. Law is a set of standardised procedures that regulate society and enforce basic rights. It was defined by John Austin as ‘the command of a sovereign enforced by a sanction’ and by Sir John Salmond as ‘the principles used in the administration of justice’. Laws are created by Parliament (the sovereign power). An example of a law created by Parliament is s.18 GBH under the Offences Against the Persons Act 1861 which carries a sanction of up to life imprisonment. The Oxford English definition of justice is ‘the administration of law or some other authority according to the principles of just behaviour and treatment.’ Just is also defined as ‘morally right and fair’ and ‘appropriate or deserved.’ Many philosophers have tried to define justice and their theories can be divided into three main areas, Justice as Harmony, Distributive Justice and Utilitarianism. Socrates and Plato theorised Justice as harmony. They said that a person’s souls has three elements; reason – the mind responsible for making decisions, spirit – human will responsible for carrying out decisions and desire – emotions that need to be controlled. They believe justice is achieved when all of these elements fulfil their functions and work in harmony. Aristotle is an important theorist for distributive justice; he is one of the earliest theorists and was a pupil of Plato. Plato saw justice as as occupying the middle ground between two extremes and there to keep proportionality. Distributive justice involves fair distribution of society’s wealth, a just state giving larger shares to those who contribute the most society, meaning the worthiest receive more than the
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