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Interview Transcript
When I think of justice, I think of something that’s not all that much different from respect for individual rights. Now in this respect though, I speak not simply about the civil and political rights that for, I think, many Americans are conjured up by the concept of rights. It’s not simply the rights that are in the U.S. Constitution that is to say, but also some basic economic justice. Some basic respect for what are known as . . . as economic and social rights in the international realm. But that is to say at the minimum, the provision of the necessities of life – the housing, the food, the medical care and like – that allow people to exist and live with some basic dignity. So I do think that with that holistic concept of rights, that there’s not all that much difference between justice and respect for rights. But I do think to . . . to equate the two, you have to move beyond the more procedurally oriented rights of, say, the U.S. Constitution – the civil and political rights – and look at some of the more substantive rights of . . . of what are known as economics and social rights.
Recorded on: 8/14/07
Re: What is justice?
Executive Director, Human Rights Watch
Beyond what is in the U.S. Constitution, economic and social rights.
December 31, 2007 | In Truth & Justice
Discuss
Jonathon Martin on January 8, 2008, 6:54 AM
So where do rights come from? I think turning justice into a discussion of rights evades the issue, which is why we disagree about what is just or about which rights are important.
Sanford Cook on January 16, 2008, 1:03 PM
REducing the concept of justice to a disucssion of rights alone ignores the factg that justice is most difficult when the subject is competing rights, and individual rights vs. societal rights. It ignores the need for agreement on just outcomes from among competing ideas about the nature of life, man, and the community.
David Fulton on January 16, 2008, 10:12 PM
The waters of justice are murky enough without pulling a different issue into it. I feel he has missed the point (to an extent), as his argument that respect for human rights is not far off from justice merely states how justice can be applied, not what is actually is, which is the topic if I’m not mistaken.
Simon Putral on January 18, 2008, 8:29 PM
Unfortunately the concept of justice in the world is linked to the concept of inequality – we live in a world where “lawful” does not necessarily equal right or good, and white collar crime is viewed radically differently to other offenses. How can we sort out “justice” on a holistic world wide level when everyday justice is defined by the agendas of those leading their groups of people. Even if this concept of worldwide “justice” existed, could our world sustain it given our dwindling resources?
“Justice” for all? Look at Sudan vs Afghanistan, Iraq vs Somalia. “Justice” is forced upon us, and then explained to us.
Jacob Kerr on March 2, 2008, 2:17 AM
Justice is when something that was wrong has been made right.Someone takes a life then there life should be taken.Someone steals something they should be made to pay for it,one way or the other.
Michael Sienkiewicz on September 11, 2008, 3:44 PM
Justice should be defined as the perfect balance of utilitarianism and respect for individual rights. Say a person works all summer and grows food, while his neighbors do nothing. Come winter, does justice require that he provide for his neighbors? A utilitarian would say that he must to produce the best outcome for the most people. On the other hand, he has a property right in the food he produced, and it would be an objectively bad result if by forcing him to give everything away you deterred him from producing food again the next summer. So the “just” result strikes a balance between the competing objectives of providing for “have nots,” letting the producer enjoy the fruits of his labor, and encouraging future production.
Michael Sienkiewicz on September 11, 2008, 3:49 PM
and to add, sandycook and jonmartin are on the money, i think.
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