Legal Justice or Social Justice?

Abstract

This article aims to read closely the tannaitic material pertaining to judicial discretion and legal justice with the understanding that the rabbis are not simply clarifying certain specialized questions about courtroom procedure but are seriously engaging a core facet of Roman imperial and Hellenistic ideology: the benefits and deficits of the rule of law. It has been noted that as opposed to later, talmudic rabbis, the Tanaaim are particularly strict with regard to personal, judicial discretion – in other words, that rather than strike a balance between law and wisdom, they allow only for rule-based decision making. This article suggests that the Tanaaim not only opt for rule-bound decision making, but that they do so with a full awareness of what is lost from broader ideals of social justice when judges are required to abide, almost mechanically, by the rules. The Tanaaim thereby contributed to contemporary questions in political philosophy from the point of view of disempowered Roman provincials for whom the rule of law meant less as political propaganda and more as a measure of stability in uncertain times.