Formal justice (Procedural law) vs Substantive justice (material law) ILW1501

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Justice
Definition – equality before the law
2 types of justice
• Formal justice (Procedural law)
o Important consideration is formal law (procedural) which deals with how legal proceedings need to be conducted. Formal law needs the following to achieve formal justice
 Explicit rules to be laid down to show people how they should be treated in specific cases
 Rules must be applied generally meaning must be applied to all people in the group under the same circumstances; and
 Rules must be applied impartially by a legal institution meaning the judge may not be biased or apply rules unequally.
• Substantive justice (material law)
o Sometime formal justice may seem unjust
o Substantive justice considers the content of the rule and not the way in which it is applied.
o The content of the rule is looked at to determine whether justice of fair and just