Term 3 Week 6 Blog Post (Can Justice & Mercy Coexist?)

Can justice coexist with mercy?

First and foremost, we have to define the terms. Justice is the quality of being fair and just. Mercy is leniency and compassion shown towards the offender. Purely by definition, these two are completely different. Therefore, many people think that as the two as contrasting qualities, justice cannot coexist with mercy.

Justice and mercy have been disputed virtues since the 1500s, and can be seen in the play The Merchant Of Venice. Both are virtues which Man has been working hard to attain, striving to achieve these qualities since the dawn of Mankind. However, more often than not, they turn out to be the exact opposites of each other, whereby both cannot be practised fully at the same time. To be just is to uphold equality, and to be merciful is to forgive. It is about achieving the right balance; a compromise has to be made. In my opinion, I believe that these two qualities can coexist.

To many, the word "justice" equates to "an eye for an eye" exchange. When someone does something wrong or is guilty of a criminal offence, he is judged as fairly as possible and given the punishment he is due, most of the time according to the law. It is important for one not to confuse the definition of "justice" with "retribution". The main difference between the two is the element of vengeance and personal hatred imbued in the carrying out of "retribution". If justice were not present, human civilisation would have collapsed long ago as it is a prerequisite. The reign of anarchy and chaos would result, as people would not be held responsible for their actions. However, for the purpose of fine-tuning the acting of justice and also to throw a crucial element of human flexibility and compassion into the mix, the aspect of mercy has to taken into account. A very good example of this is the recent incident in Iran. A man had deliberately splashed acid on a woman and blinded her, and was due to be blinded in the same way by Iranian law, which is based on retribution. However, the victim decided to forgive him and let him keep his sight, although he would still need to serve a jail term and pay the victim compensation. In this case, the victim was very merciful towards the culprit, however, justice was still present, despite the lightening of the sentence.

It is very important that mercy always takes a back seat to justice. It has to be given only after the execution of justice to ensure fairness. This is particularly beneficial for ex-convicts. Past-offenders are now increasingly being given a second shot at life after coming out from jail. A local example would be the Yellow Ribbon Project, which has the main purpose of helping past-offenders integrate back into society after long jail terms and lead meaningful lives withoout being destroyed and ostracized because of their pasts.

Of course, there are still situations where the two virtues cannot coexist. For example, someone guilty of commiting genocide, such as Adolf Hitler, cannot be given mercy. The crimes of such people are too weighty to be forgiven. If they are given mercy, the rule of law will be destroyed.

All in all, I feel that in most situations, justice and mercy are able to coexist. One cannot solely depend on either justice or mercy as both are required to maintain a just and yet at the same time humane society.