Social Sciences in China, 2025

Vol. 46, No. 1, 2025

Internal and External Justice in Juristic Acts

(Abstract)

Yang Daixiong

Theories of justice need to go beyond the dichotomy between distributive justice and corrective justice, and to be restructured at the general level and specified or re-systematized in particular areas. As far as the theory of justice in the field of juristic acts is concerned, it is necessary to distinguish between internal justice and external justice. The basic path to the realization of internal justice is the protection of negative freedom, with the auxiliary path being the protection of positive freedom, reliance protection, and the principles of fairness and good faith. The concept of cause, which is based on the theory of corrective justice, is not conducive to the realization of internal justice in juristic acts, and its explanatory power with regard to the validity of juristic acts is not as great as that of the theory of expression of intent. Distributive justice, while it has a place in the system of juristic acts, can be subsumed under the protection of positive freedom in the realization of internal justice. External justice in juristic acts is the overall justice of legal order, which is based on such values as security, order, morality, etc. Focusing on the fundamental attributes of juristic acts, internal justice takes precedence over external justice; therefore, the normative elements of external justice should intervene in juristic acts in a restrained manner, and may negate the validity of juristic acts only when necessary.

Keywords: juristic acts, validity of juristic acts, internal justice, external justice, theory of justice