Principles of Natural Justice
The term principles of natural justice is better known then described and easier proclaimed then define .According to Smith, the term natural justice expresses the close relationship between the common law and moral principles and it has an impressive ancestry. It also known as “substantial justiceâ€, “fundament justiceâ€, “universal justice†or “fair play in actionâ€. It is a great humanizing principle intended to invest law with fairness, to secure justice and to prevent injustice. It has been recognized from the earliest times that it is not judge made law. In days bygone the Greeks had accepted the principle of that “no man should be condemned unheardâ€. The historical and philosophical foundations of the English concept of natural justice may be insecure, nevertheless they are worthy of preservation. Indeed, from the legendary days of Adam and of Kautilya’s Arthashastraâ€, the rule of law has this stamp of natural justice, which makes it social justice . So as stated above natural justice has meant many things to many men, it has different colors, shades, shapes and forms. Rules of natural justice cannot be embodied within the strait jacket of a rigid formula. In Russell Vs Duke of Norfolk ,Tuckher ,L J observed : “there are, in my view, no words which are of universal application to every kind of enquiry and every kind of domestic tribunal. The requirements of natural justice must depend on the circumstances of the case, the nature of the inquiry, the rules under which the tribunal is acting, the subject matter that is being dealt with and so forthâ€. In A. K. Kraipak VS Union of India Hedge, J rightly observed: “What particular rule of natural justice should apply to a given case must depend to a great extent on the facts and circumstances of that case, the framework of the law under which the enquiry is held and the constitution of the Tribunal or body of persons appointed for that purpose. Whenever a complaint is made before a court that some principle of natural justice has been contravened, the court had to decide whether the observance of that rules was necessary for a just decision on the facts of the case†In English Law we found two principles of natural Justice. Which are as follows?
“Nemo debet esse judex in propria causa†that means no man shall be a judge in his own cause, or the judge must be free from all sorts of biasness, and the another
“Audi alterm parterm†which means to hear the other side or no man should be condemned unheard, that require that there must be procedural fairness on the part of deciding authority.
End Notes
Abbot Vs Sulvian (1952) I KB 189
Union of India Vs Tulsiram Patel (1985) 3 SCC 398(467-68) and for detail see C. K. Thakker :Administrative Law ,1996,PP.161-163
65 TLR 225:1AER 109(1949)
(1969) 2SCC 262 (272)