The need for reference to rights in order to bring justice into view becomes even more evident
in Hart’s characterization of the other context of justice, that of compensation (or, it might be
best to say, more broadly, correction). In this case, Hart explicitly draws on the concept of a
right in order to explain the bearing of justice on compensation for injury: ‘The connection
between the justice and injustice of the compensation for injury, and the princip
le “Treat likecases alike and different cases differently”, lies in the fact that outside the law there is a moral
conviction that those with whom the law is concerned have a
right
to mutual forbearance from
certain kinds of harmful conduct’ (p.165, itali
cs mine). People are equal insofar as theyequally possess these rights, and corrective justice requires the restoration of the moral
statusquo ante
in the aftermath of its disruption by the wrong-doer.