Justice

n. [Fr. justice, Pr. & Sp. justicia, It. giustizia, Lat. justitia, from justus, just.] 1. The quality of being just; the rendering to every one his due, right, or desert; practical conformity to the laws and to principles of rectitude in the dealings of men with each other; honesty; integrity in commerce or mutual intercourse; strict conformity to right and obligation; rectitude; integrity; impartiality. The king-becoming graces, As justice, verity, temperance, and stableness, I have no relish of them. Shak. This even-handed justice Commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice To our own lips. Shak.

2. Conformity to truth and reality; equal distribution of right in expressing opinions; fair representation of facts respecting merit or demerit; impartiality.
3. Just treatment; requital of desert; merited reward or punishment.

Thou shalt have justice at his hands. Shak. Examples of justice must be made for terror to some. Bacon.

4. Agreeableness to right; equity; justness; as, the justice of a claim.
5. [L. Lat. justiciarius.] A person duly commissioned to hold courts, or to try and decide controversies and administer justice.

This title is given to the judges of the common law courts in England and in the United States, and extends to judicial officers and magistrates of every grade. Syn.—Equity; law; rectitude; honesty.—JUSTICE, EQUITY, LAW. Justice and equity are the same; but human laws, though designed to secure justice, are of necessity imperfect, and hence what is strictly legal is at times far from being equitable or just. Here a court of equity comes in to redress the grievances. It does so as distinguished from courts of law; and as the latter are often styled courts of justice, some have fancied that there is in this case a conflict between justice and equity. The real conflict is against the working of the law: this a court of equity brings into accordance with the claims of justice. It would be an unfortunate use of language which should lead any one to imagine he might have justice on his side while practicing iniquity (inequity).—JUSTICE, RECTITUDE. Rectitude, in its widest sense, is one of the most comprehensive words in our language, denoting absolute conformity to the rule of right in principle and practice. Justice refers more especially to the carrying out of law, and has been considered by moralists as of three kinds: (1.) Commutative justice, which gives every man his own property, including things pledged by promise, &c. (2.) Distributive justice, which gives every man his exact deserts. (3.) General justice, which carries completely out all the ends of law, though not in every case through the precise channels of commutative or distributive justice; as we see often done by a parent or a ruler in his dealings with those who are subject to his control.