Understanding Justice: Concepts, Types, and Principles

Key Definitions of Justice

• Ulpiano's Justice: The Roman philosopher Ulpiano defined justice as the constant and perpetual will to give each his own, to act appropriately, not to harm anyone, and to give everyone his due.
• St. Thomas Aquinas on Justice: Following in the footsteps of Aristotle, St. Thomas Aquinas added the concept of general, social, or legal justice, according to which community members must adapt their behavior to the common good.

Classes and Parts of Justice

Justice is shown in three dimensions:

1. The state requires the citizen to adjust its behavior to the common good.
2. The matter requires the state to reverse the cumulative delivery of efficient public services or to distribute equitably the charges and public burdens.
3. Individuals act with one another within a plane of equality and freedom.

Types of Justice

• General or Legal Justice: If we consider that the law is the instrument to function in society and achieve the common good, we must accept that this portion of justice obliges us all. Through its practice, society is able to control arbitrariness.
• Particular Distributive Justice: Individuals call for state involvement in the assets accumulated by it. They demand that necessary public services be distributed equitably, along with charges and public burdens.
• Particular Commutative Justice: Justice is stated not as a synonym of positive law but as an ideal model. Even if done poorly, it preserves a partial détente between natural law and positive justice.
• Social Justice: From the nineteenth century, the term "social justice" began to be used as a new term or as a compendium of existing forms of justice. It can be understood that through it, a more equitable distribution of the assets of the land must be achieved.

Classification of Justice: Equity, Common Good, and Legal Certainty

• Equity: Equity can be considered as the adaptation of the provisions of the Act to the circumstances of a particular case. It is litigation or softening the rigor of the law in its application.
• Legal Security: Legal security is the guarantee of social balance. Man needs to be secure, that is to say, that his family and property are guaranteed by the state, or what is the same, by the positive law. This is the aim and aspiration of positive law.
• Sociological Principle: Because their relationship is not determined *a priori* but must occur retrospectively, i.e., after the fact, the rule applies.
• Retroactivity Principle: The law is the case where a new law could not enter into force for events that took place during the term of a previous Act.
• Superior Law: Ignorance of the law does not excuse compliance. This principle is established at the head of all legal systems.
• Common Good: The common good theory was supported by St. Thomas Aquinas. Man lives in society to carry out his natural destinations, for his own good and social good. The common good is a good way to achieve individual goals. Man tries to achieve his personal goals, but since it is not just to achieve that end, he must fit into the structure of the community.