Procedural Justice (John Rawls)

1. Perfect Procedural Justice

"First, there is an independent criterion for what is . . . fair . . ., a criterion defined separately and prior to the procedure which is to be followed. And second, it is possible to devise a procedure that is sure to give the desired outcome."

2. Imperfect Procedural Justice

"The characteristic mark of imperfect procedural justice is that while there is an independent criterion for the correct outcome, there is no feasible procedure which is sure to lead to it."

3. Pure Procedural Justice

"[P]ure procedural justice obtains when there is no independent criterion for the right result: instead there is a correct or fair procedure such that the outcome is likewise correct or fair, whatever it is, provided that the procedure has been properly followed.

Quotations from John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (Harvard University Press, 1971) §14.

Richard Lee, rlee@uark.edu, last modified: 22 June 2006