JUSTICE usually means being fair and impartial but this definition is as vague as saying virtue means being good. For while justice is directly linked with fairness and cannot exist without impartiality, it is definitely more comprehensive, deep and vast a term, encompassing a large variety of interesting concepts including freedom, social equality, opportunity, fair trial, speedy compensation etc. It cannot exist with any of these. Covering one aspect wouldn't bring justice. Let us assume that justice is closely connected with speed with which a person is compensated for his loss. But what if quick action is taken in his case, but he still feels cheated. In many court cases, we see black men receiving more death sentences than anyone else. In such cases, we may feel that justice has been done, but the black might feel victimized due to his skin color and the prevailing racial prejudice in the country. Then we would say that justice also means complete equality and impartiality where color, creed, race and religion do not play any role.

When philosophers tried to answer the question of Justice, they were probably as perplexed as any person of ordinary wisdom. Cephalus in Plato's times believed that justice meant always returning what one was give. Thrasymachus believed in the concept of might is right and felt justice was law of the stronger. So if that is true, whatever happened to fairness and equality? If strong must always prevail, what chance do the poor and the weak have of ever getting justice.

Once again, Socrates comes to our rescue. The great philosopher felt that justice was a virtue and thus a positive power with the aim of doing some good. This is by the far the most logical definition since it doesn't deny anyone a fair chance of benefiting from the justice system. Justice thus means restoring the rule of universal laws of fairness. It may hurt and cause extreme discomfort to some but as long as the victim benefits from it, we can say that justice has been done.