Which is more important, justice or the 'rule of law'?

Answer 1

Justice. The "rule of law" is often just an arbitrary standard. Discrimination against minorities was "legal" in the US not too long ago, but it certainly wasn't just.

Answer 2

Justice

Answer 3

Justice can be found within the rule of law. The two are not mutually exclusive.

When you seek justice outside the rule of law you teeter on the edge of anarchy. Justice without regard to the rule of law feeds on emotionalism, situational ethics, and moral equivalency. When those are applied to the search for justice, you find yourself on a slippery slope of NO JUSTICE.

Justice is best found when the rule of law is applied according to the law.

Answer 4

For a society to remain stable over the long term, the two are inseperable.

Justice must be defined in relation to the Rule of Law as established over time and reviewed through from the perspective of societal wisdom.

Remember that "justice" by itself is an oft-used term to describe knee-jerk reactions and "eye-for-an-eye" acts of vengeance. It has been the rallying cry of many a lynch mob and ill-planned war.

Be wary of anyone who tells you justice trumps the Rule of Law. More often than not, they're really telling you that their opinons, their most immediate gut-level feelings, should take precedence over established codes that have been tried and tested over the course of generations.

Answer 5

Justice, correctly interpreting the "rule of law"

Answer 6

The rule of law should provide justice. If it does not then it is time for revolution.

Answer 7

Where there is not Love, there is Justice. Where there is no Justice, there is the Law. Justice being in short supply, the Law wins by default... unfortunately.

Answer 8

Justice, of course.

Rule of law, however, is, THEORETICALLY (and we hope in application as well) a guarantee of justice. Orderly society prevents most injustice from occurring (unless you live under the thumb of a dictator whose rule of law is predicated on a PERSONAL notion of justice, a la Saddam, Kim, Khameini, etc etc etc).

Answer 9

The rule of law IS justice - because we can change it.

Martin Luther King changed things by disobeying laws he said were "sinful" and against "the moral law, or God's law." Now the law agrees with him, and we should all be glad of it.

But one man's "justice" can, in some cases, be society's nightmare. I guess Charles Manson also thought he was "doing God's work." So it's not either/or.

The rule of law is what most of us think of as justice.

Answer 10

Rule of Law.