Political Justice

Political justice is a political slogan, with the case law is mainly described pejoratively, which is not bound by the laws but also political goals. In democracies, a political justice is in conflict with the principles of separation of powers and independence of the Judiciary and is therefore prohibited. In dictatorships, the judiciary is often also officially committed to the enforcement of the government line.

Political justice and democratic rights

Political judiciary by Stephen Rehmke constitutes an abuse of democratic rights, which mainly produces the independence of the judiciary from the respective government authority into question. This independence is the Germany by Article 20 paragraph 2 Basic Law guaranteed separation of powers. It constitutes an abuse of executive power in the sense of political justice is when justice is not equality before the law takes into account political groups, but serves mainly the elimination of their political opponents, thus expanding the scope of the ruling political executive and not the control of these measures serves. It is also in a social psychological perspective to the inappropriate attempt at consolidation socioeconomic power interests who sees the basic requirements of the rule in the basic inferiority of the ruled. Such socio-economic interests had already stated William Godwin in his 1793 published work Enquiry Concerning Political Justice in both critical (negative ) point of view and in a positive way. The positive view of the rule base consists in a broad political agreement, the negative in the corruption of the judgment by claim ownership of material goods. The rating of Karl Marx, that legal relationships and forms of government are rooted in the material conditions of life, describes this situation in a similar manner. If we understand these perspectives dialectically, it is the lack of conflict between the positive and negative perspective that has led to the predominance of negative current point of view.

Class justice

A related political slogan is class justice. The term class justice may be referred to by Marxists to characterize the judiciary as an instrument of the ruling class ( capitalists ) in the class struggle for the maintenance of class society. It thus represents a special case of the Political Justice dar. In real socialism, the concept of class justice, however, was used as the description of their own Justice positive.

Critical Justice

The positive approach of " Political Justice" is seen today by Stephen Rehmke in the demand for a critical justice. The 68-movement understood the judiciary as uncritical instrument to cement social relations. In this context, the role of the judiciary in the period of National Socialism was discussed, in which the Court, relying on the formal law had become an accomplice of the wrong state (see terrible lawyers, Filbinger affair).

The 68-movement opposed to the ideal image of the judge who was bound only by the law, the image of a critical lawyers, should have political awareness and should use its judicial independence to effect desired political changes. The judge should contribute almost as "social engineering " to a better society.

Historical classification

The trial of Wilhelm Liebknecht and August Bebel in 1872 can be considered the first great political process in Germany.