Social justice and the law (with special reference to national and international documents)

In times of old cave society might was right. But with the growth of society rights of the citizens had been protected by might even by the arm of the police and by the rigour of iron bars. Thus, orderly might triumphing over disordered might for the preservation of right. A powerful instrument for the preservation of right is that of the jus civile. For preservation of social wrong and injustice there must be efficient administration of justice according to the predeclared principles of law and this can be done through the machinery of law courts and legal process. Were it not for the law courts, the strong could and would have prevailed over the weak and the unjust have triumphed over the just and the good. Therefore, to keep up the social equilibrium the administration of justice according to law had been developed through the State. In this way with the development of the State, private justice got substituted by social justice. The concept of social justice is best understood as forming one part of the broader concept of justice in general. Social justice came to be regarded as an attribute which the ‘action’ of society, or the ‘treatment’ of individual or groups by society, ought to possess. The expression has a definite meaning, describes a high ideal, and points to great defects of the existing social order which urgently called for correction. Social justice is the right of the weak, aged, destitute, poor, women, children and other under-privileged persons to the protection of the State against the ruthless competition of life, proper balancing of the competing claims and concerns the distribution of benefits and burdens throughout the society, as it results from the major social institutions. The principle of social justice is the concomitant of a just State, which strives to establish a just social order to subserve the common good of the people. Social justice demands the abolition of all sorts of inequalities which result from inequalities of wealth and opportunity, race, caste, religion and title and harmonize the rival claims and interests of different groups and sections. The concept of social justice, thus, takes within its sweep the objective of removing all inequalities and affording equal opportunities to all citizens in social affairs as well as economic activities. Social justice is the strong claim of the people against the State for the equitable distribution of the resources and opportunities. There is an attempt under this article to examine, in brief, the area and scope of social welfare legislations upon which the principles of social justice has been injected. The purpose of this article is to discuss how social justice is rendered in the field of social welfare legislation to the under privileged people of India.