A term such as "Justice" cannot be defined with a simple sentence. Throughout the course of time, many great figures have attempted to put a specific meaning to justice. These people include: Plato, Socrates, Justinian I, St. Augustine, etc. All of these individuals used their own distinctive explanation of justice. It is a word which, to every person, has a different meaning.

             Although "Justice" has a vast list of meanings, it can somewhat be defined. Loosely, it means to be equitable, righteous, and moral. It is also the administering of deserved punishment or reward. These definitions might be vague, but they capture the basic meaning of the term. For example, countries are run by the belief that justice shall be taken to those who break laws and amendments. When a person commits a crime, such as murder, they are punished justly, according to each country's meaning of the term. In a democratic and open-minded country, such as Canada, a person is sent to jail, if convicted, and serves a sentence hoping to bring change to an individual. Also, the punishment acts as a deterrent to any others who have intentions of committing a similar crime. However, in other countries where capital punishment is enforced, the punishment to murder is death. This is because the lawmakers of this country believe justice is served when the killer is killed himself. This is what they believe is a fair punishment.

             The term "Justice" will never have a certain meaning which will be recognized worldwide. This is due to different cultures of people having different beliefs and values. This does not mean that every interpretation of the word is wrong. It is a matter of opinions of different peoples. When one considers how justice was served thousands of years ago, they would wonder how drastic the change will be in another thousand years from now. For example, taking the Code of Hammurabi, used in the Babylonian times, in which the principle applied was "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth".