Justice, Ethics, Human Rights, and Law

Jože Ruparčič

Justice, Ethics, Human Rights, and Law

Key words: justice, equality, integrity, ethics, law, rule of law, human rights.

Abstract:
Plato characterizes justice as the first fundamental human value with an essential social component – to be fair to other people. Without a culture that internalizes this affiliation, there is no rule of law. (Jaklič 2016, 20) Regarding our commitment to a just and ethical society, Plato inspires us again when he speaks about courage that represents the second most important value after justice. He emphasizes that courage means to stand up and fight for our own beliefs, even if other people attack or hurt us. Justice is closely linked to integrity, universalism, humanity, wisdom, and other value domains. Aristotle emphasized that the social order is based on justice: the only stable state is one in which all people are equal before the law. Justice, therefore, seems to be one of the fundamental guiding principles of man as a social being in harmony with other people and as an individual person in relation to the cosmos. (Novak 2008) Moral or ethical norms are rules that are close to legal rules, but represent a certain upgrade that is over law. It is not the moral task of individuals to assert more or less equality, but rather justice must become the ethical principle of a democratic society. (Cropanzano and Prehar 1999; Masterson et al. 2000) Justice represents the necessary social impetus for the participation and involvement of individuals in societal processes, which prevents their marginalization within contemporary society – all this requires a detailed interdisciplinary approach. Plato’s suum cuisque, which advocates fair action and is grounded in the natural law point of view, is essentially the ultima ratio of understanding and perception of the meaning of law and requires the implementation of ethics and integrity as conditio sine qua non for transparent and fair action. It is, therefore, respect, humanity, goodness, nobility, and other good ethical practices that ensure a harmonious relationship with one another. In particular, justice means the equal protection of individuals and groups and the equal respect for their rights without any bias and discrimination. Therefore, justice is one of the most fundamental concepts of ethics, morality, law and is undoubtedly also the mainstay of the rule of law and the protection of human rights. We are particularly interested in the value justification of law, that is, its morality and ethics. Indeed, legal efficiency is commensurate with most people’s sense that law is in harmony with their values. (Pavliha 2016, 266)

PDF