Purpose of law

What is justice?

principle that people receive what they deserve.

What factors influence what a person deserves?

Moral correctness, ethics, rationality, law, religion, equity and fairness.

Justinians Corpus Juris Civilis

Justice is the constant and perpetual will to render everyone what he is entitled.

What are the main types of justice?

Corrective justice, distributive justice and social justice.

What is distributive justice?

Fair division of social benefits and burdens among members of society.

Which constitutional provisions support distributive justice?

Articles 38 and 39.

Article 39

It outlines the Directive Principles of State Policy that guide the government in creating a fair and egalitarian society. It mandates the State to secure an adequate livelihood for all citizens, ensure the equitable distribution of community resources for the common good, and prevent the unhealthy concentration of wealth. Additionally, it guarantees equal pay for equal work for both men and women, protects the health of workers, and ensures children are given opportunities to develop with dignity, free from exploitation.

What is social justice?

Removal of political, social and economic imbalances and historical inequalities to achieve substantive equality.

Which constitutional provisions are important for social justice?

Preamble, Articles 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, 38, 39, 46 and 47.

What does the Preamble provide regarding justice?

Social, economic and political justice.

Article 14

Equality before the law and equal protection of the laws.

Article 15

Prohibition of discrimination and certain special provisions for disadvantaged groups.

Article 16

Equality of opportunity in public employment and reservations.

Article 17

Abolition of untouchability.

Article 21

Right to life with dignity.

Article 38 and 39

Promotion of welfare and reduction of inequalities

Article 46 and 47

Protection of weaker sections and improvement of public health.

What is corrective justice?

Justice that corrects a legal wrong by restoring the injured party, as far as possible, to their previous position.

Which Articles are associated with constitutional remedies?

Articles 32 and 226.

What happened in Rudul Sah v State of Bihar?

Compensation was awarded for illegal detention.

What principle was developed in M.C. Mehta v Union of India?

Absolute liability and compensation for industrial accidents.

What does "justice according to law" mean?

Judges administer the law rather than replace or rewrite it according to personal ideas of fairness.

What is John Rawls's Original Position?

A hypothetical situation where people choose principles of justice before knowing their own place in society.

What does a person not know behind Rawls's Veil of Ignorance?

Their wealth, social status, gender, race, religion, talents, abilities or personal preferences.

What is Rawls's First Principle?

Every person should have an equal right to basic liberties.

Name examples of Rawls's basic liberties.

Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, right to vote and freedom of assembly.

What is Rawls's Second Principle?

Social and economic inequalities are acceptable only under conditions that benefit the least advantaged and provide fair equality of opportunity.

What is the Difference Principle?

Inequalities are justified only when they benefit the least advantaged.

What is fair equality of opportunity?

Positions and opportunities must be genuinely open to everyone under fair conditions.

What is morality?

Principles concerning what is good and bad or right and wrong behaviour.

What else does morality include?

Rules, standards, principles and norms guiding relationships with oneself and others.

What is morality in social terms?

The social ethics and obligations followed by people in society.

Which school directly links law and morality?

Natural Law theories.

What does the Analytical School say about law and morality?

Law and morality are separate.

Who identified three angles for studying law and morals?

B.N. Mani Tripathi.

What are the three angles of law and morality?

Morals as the basis of law, morals as the test of law, and morals as the end of law.

What does "morals as the basis of law" mean?

Moral ideas have historically influenced and contributed to the development of legal rules.

How did law and morals develop according to B.N. Mani Tripathi?

They had a common origin but came to differ with the emergence and development of the State.

What is the basic principle in Queen v Dudley and Stephens?

No person has the right to take another person's life merely to save their own.

What question did Coleridge C.J. raise about choosing whose life to sacrifice?

There was no valid measure for deciding that one person's life was more valuable than another's.

What did the Supreme Court say about conflicting fundamental rights in Mr X v Hospital Z?

The right advancing public morality or public interest could be enforced through the court.

What does "morals as the test of law" mean?

Morality can be used to assess whether existing laws conform to accepted social standards.

How does law generally relate to morality in modern society?

They are distinct, but law often conforms to morality to a considerable extent.

What does "morals as the end of law" mean?

Law ultimately seeks social welfare and protection of social interests, which are evaluated through moral standards.

What school is associated with morals as the end of law?

The Sociological School.

What did Roscoe Pound say about morals and interests?

Morals evaluate interests, while law seeks to delimit and protect them accordingly.

What is Pound's "social engineering"?

The use of law to balance competing interests and satisfy the maximum number of human wants with minimum friction and waste.

How do morals influence lawmaking?

Through concepts such as justice, equity, good faith and conscience.

What did H.L.A. Hart say about morality and modern law?

Modern legal systems show the influence of accepted social morality and wider moral ideals.

What is the relationship between law and morality overall?

They have a reciprocal relationship.

What is a similarity between law and morality?

Both are agencies of social control.

How do law and morality channel behaviour?

Law mainly uses legal sanctions, while morality uses conscience, guilt, disapproval, praise and other social incentives.

What is the main focus of morality?

The individual and moulding individual character.

What is the main focus of law?

Society and relationships among individuals and with the State.

What does morality consider regarding conduct?

Its intrinsic value and motive.

What does law mainly consider regarding conduct?

The conduct itself and legal standards governing it.

Are morals a means or an end?

Morals are an end in themselves.

Is law a means or an end?

Law is a means for the smooth functioning of society.

How are morals enforced?

Primarily through individual conscience and social pressure.

How is law enforced?

Through the machinery of the State.

What is a possible severe social consequence of violating morality?

Social boycott or strong social disapproval.

What happens when law is violated?

The State may impose legal punishment or remedies.

Are morals generally codified?

No.

Are laws generally codified?

Yes, laws are generally codified or formally recognised.

How does Pound distinguish moral principles from legal rules?

Moral principles are individually and relatively applied, while legal rules are generally and more absolutely applied.

What is equality as a purpose of law?

Ensuring equal protection, preventing arbitrary discrimination, treating similarly situated people alike, reducing inequality and creating genuine opportunities.

What is the negative function of equality law?

Prohibiting arbitrary discrimination.

What is the positive function of equality law?

Permitting or requiring special measures to eliminate historical and structural disadvantages.

Why does the Constitution permit reservations while guaranteeing equality?

Because substantive equality may require special measures to correct existing disadvantage.

Why is equality a core constitutional purpose in India?

It is embedded in the Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles and the Basic Structure.

What are the two tracks of equality?

Formal equality and substantive equality.

What is formal equality?

Treating everyone identically without discrimination on prohibited grounds.

What is substantive equality?

Recognising that identical treatment of unequal people may perpetuate inequality and allowing differential treatment to uplift disadvantaged groups.

What does the Preamble provide regarding equality?

Equality of status and opportunity.

What does Article 14 guarantee?

Equality before the law and equal protection of the laws.

What is equality before the law?

A negative concept meaning absence of special privileges and equal subjection of everyone to ordinary law.

Which tradition is associated with equality before the law?

The British/Diceyan tradition.

What is equal protection of the laws?

A positive concept requiring similarly situated persons to be treated alike and the State to take positive action where necessary.

Which tradition is associated with equal protection?

The American Fourteenth Amendment tradition.

What does Article 14 prohibit?

Arbitrary class legislation.

Does Article 14 require every law to apply identically to everyone?

No. It permits reasonable classification.

What are the two tests for reasonable classification?

Intelligible differentia and rational nexus.

What is intelligible differentia?

A clear distinction separating the persons or things included in a group from those excluded.

What is rational nexus?

A rational relationship between the classification and the object of the law.

What happened in State of West Bengal v Anwar Ali Sarkar?

Unguided discretion under the Special Courts Act resulted in arbitrary classification and violated Article 14.

What did E.P. Royappa v State of Tamil Nadu establish?

Equality is dynamic and arbitrariness is antithetical to equality.

What does "arbitrariness is antithetical to equality" mean?

Arbitrary State action is inherently unequal and may violate Article 14.

What does Article 15(1) prohibit?

State discrimination against citizens on religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.

What does Article 15(3) permit?

Special provisions for women and children.

What does Article 15(4) permit?

Special provisions for socially and educationally backward classes and SCs/STs.

What does Article 15(5) provide?

Reservations in educational institutions, including private unaided institutions, except minority institutions.

What does Article 15(6) provide?

Up to 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections.

Which amendment introduced Article 15(6)?

The 103rd Constitutional Amendment, 2019.

What does Article 16(1) guarantee?

Equality of opportunity in employment or appointment under the State.

What does Article 16(4) permit?

Reservation for backward classes inadequately represented in State services.

What does Article 16(6) provide?

Up to 10% EWS reservation in public employment.

Which amendment introduced Article 16(6)?

The 103rd Constitutional Amendment, 2019.

What was examined in Indra Sawhney v Union of India?

The validity of 27% OBC reservation in public employment under Article 16(4).

What was the size of the Indra Sawhney bench?

Nine judges.

What did Indra Sawhney hold about Article 16(4)?

It is not merely an exception to Article 16(1); reservation itself can be an application of equality.