Judicial virtue in hard times: Courage, lawfulness, and practical wisdom
Virtue jurisprudence is an approach to normative legal theory that answers normative questions about law from a perspective that is centred on the human excellences or virtues. A virtue-centred theory of judging offers an account of the judicial virtues. This chapter addresses the question, ‘What work can the judicial virtues do in hard times, when a polity experiences radical dysfunction that undermines human flourishing?’ Three judicial virtues are especially important in hard times: judicial courage, justice as lawfulness, and practical wisdom. Judicial courage enables judges to respond to the threats and dangers that attend hard times. Justice as lawfulness disposes judges to do justice, even when positive enactments would lead them astray. Practical wisdom enables judges to make the difficult choices that inevitably arise when the political system has been systematically corrupted.