Justice (abbreviation: [name],J. and other variations) is anhonorificstyle and title traditionally used to describe ajurist who is currently serving or has served on asupreme court or some equal position.[1] In some countries, a justice may have had prior experience as ajudge or may have been appointed with no prior judicial experience. It is predominantly used today in the United States to distinguish those who serve on theU.S. Supreme Court from judges who serve on alower court. Other countries, such as New Zealand and India, similarly use the title as a form of address for members of their highest courts.
The title ofjustice is derived from the Latin rootjus (sometimes spelledius) meaning something which is associated with law or is described asjust.[2] It is different from the wordjudge in that different suffixes were added to form both words, and that the usage of the termjustice predates that ofjudge.[3] It first appeared in the year 1137, within theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle, nearly 200 years before the first appearance ofjudge.[4] The termjustice developed over time to incorporate a meaning different from that of ajudge with the difference continuing after the period ofMiddle English.[5]
The earliest record using the wordjustice to describe an official appears inLa Vie de Saint Thomas Becket, a French biography ofSaint Thomas of Canterbury written in 1172. Its usage of the wordjustice referred to a judge in the service of theKing of France. These early justices were members of Frenchhigh society and were primarily administrators rather than those with formal training in legal affairs.[6]
InEngland and Wales, judges may be known as "Mr Justice ..." or "Mrs Justice ...", for exampleMr Justice Goss andMrs Justice Arbuthnot.
The United States Supreme Court consists of eightassociate justices, headed by onechief justice. Each is titledjustice whereas judges on thedistrict courts andcourts of appeals are calledjudges.[7] Though those appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court are usually lawyers, there is no requirement to be a judge or to have any prior experience serving in a lower court. A current example of this is JusticeElena Kagan, who served as aU.S. Solicitor General and was theDean of Harvard Law School prior to her appointment in 2010.
Within state courts, those who serve on the highest appellate court are likewise called justices, whereas those who serve on lower courts are judges. In most states, they are legally designated as justices, rather than as judges, with the only exception beingTexas, where the title is divided between a civil and criminal court.[7] Judges on a state's lower courts are also legally designated, with the exception being only a few states.[7]
In 1980, in anticipation for the possibility of a female justice joining the Supreme Court, it was agreed that theMr. inMr. Justice would be dropped. Thus, since 1980, the honorificMr. is no longer appended to the names of justices in Supreme Court Reports, e.g. Justice Brennan's name would be given, not asMr. Justice Brennan, but solely asJustice Brennan.[8]