Roman Iustitia Naturalis and Modern Positivist Justice

Abstract

Introduction. The modern definition of the concept of “justice” is too narrow when we compare it to the famous Roman classical definition of the concept of iustitia as a synonym for justness. Justness is expressed by the constant will to “grant everyone their right”. Ancient thinkers associated the concept of justice with natural law, which unfortunately, is almost lost in modern legal theory. Theoretical Basis. Methods. The article was prepared using general scientific methods (systemic, logical) and special legal methods (comparative legal, formal legal). Results. The concept of “justice” arguably first appeared in Ancient Greece during the 6th to 2nd centuries BC in the philosophy of Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle and the Stoics. Plato contrasted this understanding of justice with the right of the strong. In the first century BC, Cicero developed this concept further, stating that justice proceeds from natural law, based on the principles of love, friendship, trust and consent. As these principles do not apply equally at different levels (that is, in the family, between friends, between trade partners, between fellow citizens, between foreigners, etc.), the main task of justice is to make an honest allocation of justness to everyone. The Roman lawyer and philosopher would argue that human laws that reject iustitia naturalis lead to lawlessness and the collapse of society. In discussion with Carneades, (who argued that natural justice is folly, and that real civil justice is based on the protection of the benefit or utilitas of the strongest), Cicero argued that without mutual love, trust and friendship, the common benefit of society as a whole, based on the fundamental concept of honesty (honestum), suffers. These principles were adopted by the Roman classical jurists and Justinian compilers in the famous definition of iustitia. Discussion and Сonclusion. Unfortunately, modern positivism in its most extreme manifestation of “pure law” has abandoned the ideas of “natural justice”. This is evidenced by the separation of the principles of morality based on nature, that is, customary law, as a centuries-old practice of regulating relations in society. The result is a significant weakening of the principles of natural unity of people in societies of all levels, including the international human community.