COMMUTATIVE JUSTICE

In Catholic social doctrine, there are several dimensions to the virtue of justice. Legal justice, in this system of classification, is more than a mere reflection of positive law, which may or may not be just. Legal or universal justice judges laws, addresses common concerns, and governs a citizen’s obligations to the community. Distributive justice specifies the community’s obligations to distribute certain goods to the individual in just proportion to his contributions and needs. Commutative justice measures the mutual exchanges between persons in society. As such, it requires an honoring of promises and fulfilling of contracts freely agreed to by two or more parties.

Commutative justice not only involves the obligations people enter into toward one another but also the full range of moral principles. Unjust or immoral contracts are not binding. Taking advantage of others, even if the practice is not illegal, is an infraction against what we owe one another in commutative justice. Licit agreements respect individual rights and private property. They pledge us to repay debts, deliver goods promised, perform services as specified, and do all this at the right time and place.

Furthermore, commutative justice requires restitution of goods stolen or otherwise improperly acquired and reparation for any harm done. Restitution is an obligation not only of the person who wrongly acquired the goods in the first instance but of anyone who knowingly benefits along the way from the misappropriation.
Distributive and legal justice are, in a sense, based on the reciprocal obligations of commutative justice, since other forms of justice build on what is a fair relationship between two individuals. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that without commutative justice, “no other form of justice is possible” (2411).

See: Property; Restitution; Social Doctrine; Social Justice; Stealing; Universal Destination of Goods; Usury.


Russell Shaw. Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Catholic Doctrine. Copyright © 1997, Our Sunday Visitor.

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Last Updated: Sunday, April 01, 2001 03:24:19 PM