Natural Justice In Corporate Ethics

Corporate Ethics which is the application of moral values in an organization is predicated on the principle of Natural Justice. In other words, the existence of whatever ethical standard will remain largely questionable if by whatever means it is discovered to be contrary to the highly adored principle of natural justice.

What then is natural justice? In clear terms and from a lay man’s view, Natural Justice has to do with Justice according to God. It implies the process of achieving justice the way God would have had it.

From the legal perspective, Natural Justice is a Common Law principle which has held an age long application across countries and democracies following its acceptability by the judicial systems of modern states. The principle has two rules.

Rule 1: Fair Hearing (audi alterem pattem)  

The first rule of natural justice is expressed by the Latin maxim “audi alterem pattem” which means “hear the other side”. This rule holds that, in the course of any litigation, the parties involved in the matter must be given equal opportunity to say their minds before the trial judge. This is generally known as fair hearing.

To guarantee equity in administration of justice, the rule holds that everyone who has involvement in the matter, whether they are the plaintiff or the respondent (defendant in a criminal case), must be given opportunity to speak in the court.

The implication of this is that any decision held by the court or any trail body from a one-sided witness, confession or opinion will be declared null and void upon appeal. Even though such ruling is predicated on sufficient evidences, it will hold no place in justice hence it was decided contrary to the rule of fair hearing.

Rule 2: No Man Can be a Judge in His Own Case (nemo judex en causa sua)

The second rule of Natural Justice, just like the first, is better expressed in the Latin maxim, “nemo judex en causa sua”, which means “a man cannot be a judge in his own case”.  The rule simply holds that a judge or one who plays the role of a judge in an adjuratory panel must and shall never be a party or a relative to a party in the matter upon which he sits.

This means that the judge shall by and large remain most neutral in any matter he sits to adjudicate. He shall not be an interested party in the matter nor shall he be related to any of the parties by whatsoever means.

This is simply because, it assumed impossible for the judge to rule against a party in whom his interest lies, if perhaps he is related to the party or is a party to the case himself.

Summary

The principle of natural has a universal latitude. It binds every form of adjudicatory panel whether inquisitorial or adversarial. In administrative law, quasi-judicial panels by whatever composition are meant to follow the principle of natural justice else, whatever be their decisions will be voided when appealed to the court of competent jurisdiction.