natural justicen.
/ˌnatʃ(ə)rəl ˈdʒʌstɪs/, /ˌnatʃ(ə)rl̩ ˈdʒʌstɪs/, U.S. /ˌnætʃər(ə)l ˈdʒəstəs/, /ˌnætʃr(ə)l ˈdʒəstəs/ Principles, procedures, results, etc., which are instinctively felt to be just and fair, even if not formally enshrined in law.
ΚΠ
1651 T. Hobbes Philos. Rudim. Ep. Ded. sig. a8 When I applyed my Thoughts to the Investigation of Naturall Justice, I was presently advertised from the very word Justice..that my first enquiry was to be, from whence it proceeded, that any man should call any thing rather his Owne, then another mans.
1688 Mem. Eng. Protestants in Coll. Scarce & Valuable Tracts (1748) II. 300 Your Highness is not obliged, either by our Laws or natural Justice, to have Witnesses to prove the pretended Prince of Wales to be an Imposture.
1797 E. Burke Remarks Policy Allies in Three Memorials on French Affairs 191 Their revolutionary tribunals, where every idea of natural justice..have been trod under foot with the most insolent mockery.
1883 Law Times Rep. 49 769/1 Natural justice required that the loss..should be recouped by the other party.
1971 S. Howatch Penmarric (1972) v. 533 If I were a high-minded idealist I would maintain a dignified silence and trust that natural justice would provide my children with a true perspective on their father's chequered career.
1990 R. H. Bork Tempting of Amer. 20 The ideas of natural justice are regulated by no fixed standard; the ablest and the purest of men have differed upon the subject.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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