Justice

Justice is a moral principle entailing the appropriate punishment of those who commit evil deeds. In practice, this is the prevailing value held by the Marines and the World Government, though each person has different interpretations on how it should be enforced.

Overview
The thing called "justice" changes its shape... Depending on where you stand.

In the One Piece world, justice can be summarized as a criminal being served the punishment that they deserve for their evil deeds. Depending on said crimes, a wide range of punishments have been deemed acceptable by the World Government in the name of justice, including imprisonment, slavery, torture and execution. The classic view of how a criminal should receive justice is thought of as "an eye for an eye," which means the punishment should be roughly comparable to the crime in question; for instance, the punishment for murder should be execution. Despite this, the World Government has on multiple occasions deviated from this principle, offering lenient punishments to certain people and harsh punishments to practically-innocent people.

Many forms of justice have been shown numerous times in the series. Marines may choose to display signs of justice based on their own interpretations or opinions of the moral principle. Some examples of different interpretations of justice include Kuzan's "Lazy Justice," Rob Lucci's "Dark Justice" (闇の正義) and Smoker who told Tashigi to create her own "personal justice."



However, a common theme in the series is that corrupt and/or overzealous members of Marines and Cipher Pol often use Justice as vindication for their unethical actions. This would lead to excessive punishments to criminals involved and would sometimes lead innocent casualties in the process. They claim all their inhumane actions, oftentimes worse than the actions of the criminal, to be a necessary evil to preserve peace in the world. This has often led people (most of them pirates) to react with disgust at their behavior. For example, in the CP9 Mini series, Rob Lucci was seen to have dealt "Excessive Justice" to the Candy Pirates. The extreme nature of his attack against them horrified the citizens that witnessed it.

Justice in Practice
Pirates are evil? The Marines are righteous? These terms have always changed throughout the course of history! Kids who have never seen peace and kids who have never seen war have different values! Those who stand at the top determine what's wrong and what's right! This very place is neutral ground! Justice will prevail, you say? But of course it will! Whoever wins this war becomes justice!

Several interpretations of the idea of Justice exist within the Marines, and its members are free to adhere to whichever suits them the most, although the World Government tends to encourage the Absolute Justice interpretation.

All individuals noted to have done illegal activities or criminal acts are reported to Marine Headquarters and issued bounties, based on the known information about their threat level - regardless of the circumstances. However, the World Government, Marines and Cipher Pol all believe in both guilt by association and collective punishment. Anyone connected to criminals, no matter who they are, can be arrested even if they have not personally committed any crimes.

Pirates have been especially singled out by the Marines and the World Government deems them the greatest threat to justice. As such, pirates are no longer considered protected by the law. Any person bearing the Jolly Roger on their ship is arrested, regardless of their actions, and any community caught harbouring them can be punished as well. Civilians, too, are targeted by the government's extreme measures against piracy; persons associated with pirates are usually barred from entering the Marines (with few notable exceptions), and providing aid or comfort to pirates is a serious crime, especially if they are well-known bounty heads.

Doflamingo, though a former World Noble and Warlord of the Sea, is not without some opinion in regards to what is and is not justice, but he himself does not seem to care for it as he believes in a sort of moral relativism. He believes that justice has no absolute standard, only being decided by those currently in power. During the Marineford War, he stated that victors of the war will ultimately be the arbiters of so-called justice.

Absolute Justice
...Absolute Justice... Sometimes drives a man insane.

Absolute Justice (絶対的正義) is a strict philosophy and motto followed by the Marines. It is a central tenet of the Marine doctrine and is the interpretation of justice encouraged by the World Government.

Supporters of Absolute Justice believe in the eradication of all evil at all costs, even when it involves innocent deaths or immoral acts. Believers in absolute justice believe in an "ends justify the means" attitude, which is often used to justify what would otherwise be inhumane and heinous actions.

It is unknown why the World Government holds such a stance on Absolute Justice, nor where this belief originated from. However, Vice-Admiral Onigumo best described it as willing to sacrifice anything to defeat what is defined as "evil", though it does ensure that the majority of the world is held under the World Government's dominion, effectively giving them absolute control of the world.

Known supporters of Absolute Justice include Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, Vice-Admiral Onigumo, and most members of Cipher Pol, while former Fleet Admiral Sengoku is inspired by both Absolute Justice and other forms of Justice.

Upheld Justice
Aside from Absolute Justice, many high-ranking Marines have a personal "Upheld Justice" (掲げる正義) in the form of a motto. This sense of justice is often fundamentally tied to their character and reflects heavily in their actions. While some of these mottos are an interpretation of Absolute Justice, others are tied to independent and different sets of ideals; despite favoring Absolute Justice, the World Government allows Marines to follow their own personal interpretation of Justice, as long as it does not cause insubordination.

The following mottos of "Upheld Justice" have been introduced so far.
 * Former Admiral Aokiji: "Lazy Justice" (だらけきった正義). Aokiji believes that justice is seldom worth pursuing and should only be enforced with little effort. This can be seen reflected in his apathetic attitude and unwillingness to act. His justice was formerly "Burning Justice" (燃え上がる正義), but he came to change his views following the events of Ohara.
 * Admiral Kizaru: "Unclear Justice" (どっちつかずの正義). This can be seen in his carefree attitude and fickle priorities. For example, Kizaru is willing to question pirates in a casual manner while looking for Sentomaru, but immediately goes on the offensive against Basil Hawkins when he does not have the information he is looking for.
 * Fleet Admiral Sakazuki: "Thorough Justice" (徹底的な正義). This is apparent in his decision to destroy the evacuation ship at Ohara based on the mere possibility that one of their targets may be using the ship to escape. He believes that "evil" must be eradicated down to its roots. This appears to be a more extremist form of Absolute Justice.
 * Vice Admiral Tsuru: "Cleansing Justice" (清らかなる正義). This fits Tsuru's Devil Fruit, the Woshu Woshu no Mi, which has the power to cleanse evil from the hearts of villains.
 * Former Fleet Admiral Sengoku: "Reigning Justice"' (君臨する正義). This justice is fitting for Sengoku's former position as the Fleet Admiral in command of the Marines, in which he was known as "The Resourceful General".
 * Admiral Fujitora: "Humane Justice" (仁義ある正義). This form of justice tends to prioritize the protection of innocent people over the pursuit of criminals, though Fujitora still does both. This justice is fitting for Fujitora's moral ideals, caring for innocents and opposing corruption in the Government.
 * Admiral Ryokugyu: "Determined Justice" (死ぬ気の正義).
 * Vice Admiral Prodi: "Fine Tuned Justice" (メリハリある正義).

Success Rates


Captured criminals often regret that they ever committed offenses, as the punishment they face is often brutal and painful. Since they are targets by the law, the law in turn does not protect them when they are in need and in trouble.

Generally, most citizens do not have the desire to turn to criminal activity or aid criminals for fear of punishment by the Marines, and may be quick to turn in criminals to avoid association with them, as they fear they could be prosecuted for such an act. The employment of bounties also encourages this behavior further, as civilians can get rewarded for collaborating with authorities.

Failures
One of the ongoing themes of One Piece is the misapplication of the principle of "justice" by the Marines and other law enforcers. While the Marines wish to maintain law and order by apprehending criminals, the methods many of them use can often be worse than those of the pirates they seek to wipe out, disregarding the rights and/or needs of civilians in order to pursue their own ends. The failures so far of this rule have been proven constantly and in many cases led to the opposite happening of what they were intending.

Especially notable examples of failure of justice include:
 * An unknown number of women and children were slaughtered in their child hunt for Roger's child. Rouge, the child's mother, was aware of the child hunt and thus delayed childbirth as long as possible. Garp protected and adopted Ace after his birth as he promised to Roger.
 * During the Ohara Incident, innocent civilians were given a ship to evacuate the island. However, the ship was destroyed by one of the Marines, Sakazuki, due to his view of justice. This led to all citizens of Ohara being killed, with the exception of Robin, who escaped with the help of another Marine, Kuzan.
 * The city of Flevance was once famous and prosperous thanks to its production of Amber Lead. It was later discovered that Amber Lead caused a hereditary disease that would gradually decrease the lifespan of each the victim's descendants. The World Government was aware of the disease but refused to act out of selfish greed. They were also aware the disease was not contagious, but in response to public outrage, they nevertheless declared the city a hazard zone and placed the city under quarantine. When the quarantined citizens revolted, the World Government opened fire on the citizens of Flevance. This led to all infected citizens being killed with the exception of Trafalgar Law.

At times, whenever an incident would make the government look bad, the Marines or the World Government has been known to censor news outlets to portray them in a positive light. This was shown when Luffy and his crew defeated Crocodile and ended an attempted coup-d'etat in Arabasta. Knowing that a pirate defeating a Warlord of the Sea would embarrass the World Government, they instead attributed the heroic deed to Marine Captain Smoker, despite hardly being involved with the battle.

The practice of so-called justice can also bring out the questionable morals in some everyday citizens. With the prospect of gaining instant wealth by selling out Robin to the authorities, throughout her upbringing she would be betrayed by several people who offered her shelter, then attempted to turn her into the authorities.

Depending on one's perspective, one could argue that the Marines' policy of Absolute Justice makes them worse than the very evil that they claim to fight. Onigumo, a firm believer in Absolute Justice, killed one of his soldiers simply for questioning his instruction. Also, during the Summit War of Marineford, Admiral Sakazuki killed a soldier who no longer wanted to participate in the battle.

Enies Lobby was known as a place where justice was distributed fairly, but in truth, not one person has ever been found innocent, mainly due to the so-called "jury" consisting of death-row inmates who wish to take as many people with them as possible. Also, the Impel Down prison is designed to prevent any captive criminals from leaving alive. Even those without a life sentence usually die in prison from the systematic torture they are subjected to, something that the jailers find pleasure in. The same can be said for G-5, a group of Marine soldiers known for their barbarism and refusal to follow rules.

In some cases, the methods and procedures used by the officials can encourage pirates and other criminals to appear, often those trying to seek power and fame via illegal means. Those who are already pirates also often feel empowerment from their own notoriety and gain a sense of freedom from the restraints of normal life having the power to do exactly as they please until the day they are caught or die.

Exclusions
The World Government's administration of "justice," despite being eager to hand out harsh punishments, tends to ignore certain groups of people. The World Nobles, for one, seem to have total immunity from all crimes they commit. Despite claiming to have abolished slavery over two centuries ago, the World Nobles very explicity kidnap and own slaves, yet the World Government is unwilling to act. The double standards of the World Government are well-known even to civilians, yet most of them are unwilling to speak out for fear of what the World Nobles will do in retaliation.

The World Government also does not offer protection to certain communities. Countries outside the World Government's jurisdiction will likewise receive no protection from them, but the World Government still does not offer unconditional support to its own member countries. They will only grant assistance to countries who pay the Heavenly Tribute, but even when this requirement is met, their support is not guaranteed. If the World Government finds it convenient, they will simply destroy countries and attempt to erase its presence from history.

Another problem with the World Government's concept of "Absolute Justice" is that it effectively does not apply to the World Nobles, who are shown to be able to keep slaves and murder innocent people in broad daylight without seemingly any repercussions due to their privileged status, which flies in the face of the very term "Absolute" as if it were truly Absolute Justice, then it should at least apply to everyone regardless of whether they are a World Noble or a commoner. Despite their claim of "Absolute Justice" the Government will only send marines to assist countries if they can pay the "Heavenly Tribute". However, even if such countries pay their Heavenly Tributes, it does not offer them guaranteed protection if the Government deemed it more convenient to simply destroy the country and erase its existence from history, as Lulusia suffered.

Most noteworthy of all, is that though the World Government supports "Absolute Justice", they can also be renowned for ignoring justice altogether and the term can sometimes be as questionable as the morals that drive their opinion of 'Justice'. Despite the World Government's view of "Justice", they hypocritically do business with a country run by pirates. Because of all this, the people who follow Absolute Justice can be seen as just as bad, or even worse, than the criminals.

As a further sign of hypocrisy, the Government was fully willing to recruit powerful and influential criminals (specifically pirates) to become their allies, namely the Seven Warlords of the Sea. The government pardoned all the past crimes committed by these pirates, along with any other criminals who work directly under these pirates, and would allow them to keep committing more crimes to a certain extent, willing to overlook certain things simply to maintain their hold on society's faith in the strength of "justice". When the Government's allied countries gave a consensus of majority to abolish this system, the Government shamelessly severed all ties with the Seven Warlords of the Sea and hunted them down.

Law Enforcers
To this worlds inhabitants, who fear the prevalence of evildoers, there is a purpose to us being here!!! The "Justice" known as Morality shall not be destroyed!!!

To enact "Justice" on the One Piece world, law enforcement is split between the following groups.

Marines


The Marines are the main and largest law enforcement organization of the entire world, and they are widespread throughout the four blue seas and both halves of the Grand Line. Justice is a central principle which drives the Marines' actions, to the point where the word ​"Justice" (正義, Seigi?)​ is emblazoned on the uniform coats of all commissioned officers.

Pacifistas


Pacifistas are cyborgs built in the likeness of former Warlord of the Sea Bartholomew Kuma. They are human weapons developed by the Marines' head scientist, Dr. Vegapunk, with the intent of aiding the Marines in hunting wanted pirates. Pacifistas are incredibly costly to produce, but their cybernetic enhancements make them a formidable challenge to most pirates, including Super Rookies.

Among the Pacifista, the Seraphim are their strongest incarnation, being clones of the former Seven Warlords of the Sea enhanced with lunarian attributes. They are supposed to replace the Warlords in the world order, serving as the ultimate deterrent for pirates evrywhere.

Police


The Police (警察官) are local defensive forces most countries have to enforce the law on their own land. While Marines focus on high-profile, international pirates, the police are responsible for the lesser, common criminals. While the Marines maintain a high order of policing in the world, worldwide police officers are employed by the World Government to supervise local areas and arrest unlawful citizens.

Most states that are unaffiliated with the World Government have their own independent police force, which serve the interests of their local leader. Skypiea has an army to serve its own god and Wano Country makes use of both samurai and ninjas to protect its shogun.

The duty of a police officer is to maintain law and order, however they only deal with local interests, unlike the Marines who maintain a global presence. They leave the task of capturing tough criminals to the Marines, but aid them when in their jurisdiction. Currently, they have only deployed in small numbers, which sharply contrasts the scale of deployment of the Marines.

Genzo is the sheriff of East Blue's Cocoyasi Village, and also doubles as the mayor. Laffitte of the Blackbeard Pirates was said to have been a former policeman, however evidently his "Ultra Violent" ways caused him to be exiled from the West Blue. Dressrosa, a kingdom within the New World, has its own police force, known as the Dressrosa Police (DP). Law enforcement also exists underwater, with a Sea Dog being shown to work as a police officer in a small town of Sea Beasts.

Cipher Pol


Cipher Pol are ten units of special government intelligence agencies that also enforce the law. Two of these divisions are not known to public: the assassination unit, CP9, and CP0, who work under the direct command of the World Nobles. Unlike the other divisions, these groups have the unique authority to kill any citizen, criminal or not, that they deem to be a danger to the world.

Royal Guards


Royal Guards are a type of soldiers and warriors which serve a country's monarchs and royal family, or any leader in a similar position. Because of this, their allegiance to the World Government is merely indirect (save for those stationed in the Pangaea Castle) and dependent on whether their country is affiliated with it. Royal Guards are often part of an army dedicated to fighting external threats, but they may also act as a police force for internal matters if necessary.

God's Knights
The God's Knights are the law enforcers of Mary Geoise, having jurisdiction over disputes between World Nobles. They can also be seemingly deployed for external battles, particularly in matters dealing with World Government-affiliated kingdoms.

Bounty Hunters


Bounty Hunters are people who are not officially affiliated with any government, but make their living by hunting down and turning in wanted criminals for their bounty reward. Some work alone, such as Jean Ango, while others work in groups, like the former Baroque Works. They operate independently from the World Government's influence, often acting outside the law. All bounty hunters seen so far do not seem to work to uphold justice, but rather for money and fame, and many of them have committed crimes themselves.

Seven Warlords of the Sea


Prior to the system being abolished, the World Government and the Marines were aided by seven powerful pirate captains, the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Though technically not an actual organization of law enforcement, they were used to stop pirates the World Government deemed a threat.

The Warlords themselves were former criminals who received a pardon in exchange for their allegiance, yet many still operated the same criminal activities they did before, though there are a few restrictions as to what Warlords may and may not do. Should a Warlord commit a particularly heinous crime abusing their privileges, their role may be revoked by the Marines.

Due to several members abusing their privileges at the expense of kingdoms affiliated with the World Government, the Seven Warlords system has been discontinued. All existing Warlords have once again become fugitives and their bounties have been reactivated.

Judicial System
Once a criminal has been captured, they are taken to a court of law and put on trial.

Judges


Judges serve an important purpose in the speedy and organized trial of a criminal. The judge is arguably the most important person to law enforcement as they are the one who makes the final decision regarding a criminal's punishment. On the word of "guilty" or "innocent," a criminal can either be set free or given a sentence.

Though Marines follow the rule of "Absolute Justice," a judge may refrain from such extremities. Demonstrations of this have included Jango's pardon, Tom's allowance to have time to build the Sea Train, and Baskerville's three heads calling out different verdicts on a criminal (but ultimately declaring them guilty anyway).

Stable Courthouse Judges
These Judges work in explicitly marked courthouses in one single place:
 * Baskerville
 * Marine Headquarters Judges

Judicial Ship Judges
These Judges travel on board Judicial Ships and may judge a person anywhere.
 * Jorge

Jurors

 * Just Eleven Jurymen

Punishments


Punishment is the final effort of enforcing the rule of "Justice" in the One Piece world.

Punishments are varied, and depending on the local culture, laws and personality of the ruling party, can range between fair to extremely unjust. For example, under the rule of Enel, Skypiea employed a set of laws known as the Heaven's Judgement, which imposed hefty penalties against any visitors who dared to break them, regardless if they had knowledge of their existence, and could easily escalate in severity, leading to an even harsher punishment. Meanwhile, under Neptune's rule, Fish-Man Island can apply light sentences such as simple community service. It is also common to have criminals forced into fighting for local entertainment, as is the case in Amazon Lily and Dressrosa.

Criminals who attain a bounty can end up with bounty hunters chasing them, or in more serious cases, Marines, who may hold onto them until they are taken to a more suitable prison, like Impel Down.

Sometimes these punishments even have to be enforced on the law enforcers themselves. Police officers who abuse their position like Laffitte risk losing their position, and can even be banished from a particular area. In a more serious case, they can even be imprisoned and brought in as a criminal themselves, such as the Head Jailer Shiryu.

In the justice system employed by the World Government, it is ironic, yet nonetheless evident that death is also the lightest sentence for a criminal to serve. For the crime of building Gol D. Roger's ship (which is arguably not very criminal), Tom was sentenced to execution at Enies Lobby. The heavier the crime, the more severe the punishment, and the worst criminals may suffer months or years of torture in Impel Down before they die. The Level 1 prisoners are however given the option of suicide by jumping into a hole that leads from the Crimson Hell to the Wild Beast's Hell.

The most notable problem however is that the innocent can be punished by accident, although the authorities of the World Government seem to care little about this. The Just Eleven Jurymen in particular had a reputation for announcing any criminal who entered Enies Lobby as "guilty". The Jurymen themselves were criminals due for their own execution and had sworn to take as many criminals down with them. On top of this, the "3-headed" judge Baskerville would pronounce both verdicts of innocent (left head) and guilty (right head), but ultimately decide (with its middle head) that the criminal was to die anyway.

Notable and unique forms of punishment that have been featured in the world of One Piece include:


 * Cloud Drifting: A form of banishment used in Skypiea. The sentenced person is forced onto a drifting, desert cloud. Eventually, the cloud dissipates, causing the person's remains to fall into the Blue Sea below. Under Enel's reign, cloud drifting was used as a punishment for committing a Class 5 crime, but following his defeat his priests were all sentenced to cloud drifting. It is unclear whether this punishment is still in use.
 * Ordeals: A set of four trials of varied nature used as a punishment in Skypiea. The sentenced person must choose one of the four ordeals, and they will be pardoned for their crimes if they survive. This punishment was used under Enel's reign for a Class 2 criminals, but following Enel's defeat this system has been abolished and is no longer in use.
 * Buster Call: A military attack of extreme scope used by the Marines meant to destroy whole islands and populations. High-ranking Marines and Cipher Pol agents may trigger a Buster Call at their own discretion and Marine forces will be summoned without question to destroy the island.
 * Slavery: Criminals may sometimes be kidnapped and sentenced to forced servitude. Although the World Government claims to have abolished the system, World Nobles have been known to kidnap pirates and own them as slaves.
 * Roulette: A device used by Big Mom as a punishment to all people who leave her crew. Big Mom would spin a roulette wheel containing various punishments, such as beheading or amputation of an arm or leg.

Executions


Both the Marines and the World Government authorize the death penalty for those they deem a great threat. Executions are usually public events to deter others from committing similar crimes.

The most common method of execution seen in the One Piece world was used on Gol D. Roger, Mont Blanc Noland, and Portgas D. Ace. Criminals are restrained and forced to kneel on a high platform. Two executioners would impale the criminal using a long blade.

Another common method is death by firing squad. Prisoners are restrained (usually crucified) before being killed by rifle fire. It seems to be used on less prominent criminals like Nugire Yainu, who was executed under the name of Captain Kuro. Hanging and decapitation by guillotine are also used as means of execution. Both were attempted on Kaidou, but failed.

Wano Country, under the Kurozumi shogunate, had a unique execution method where criminals are boiled to death in a large pot of oil. Kozuki Oden's miraculous ability to survive this execution would become known as the Legendary Hour. However, following the overthrowing of Kurozumi Orochi, it is unknown of this execution method is still in use.

Prisons


Prisons are facilities that hold down captured criminals as part of their punishment. The biggest and most prominent prison in the world is Impel Down, which is reserved for notorious pirates and criminals. It located in the Calm Belt, making escape nearly impossible. Some will spend a brief moment there, but most will spend the remainder of their lives incarcerated, often dying in the extreme nature of Impel Down's torture methods. The very worst criminals, meanwhile, are placed on the lowest level of Impel Down, with the intent of being "erased" from historical record.

Local prisons also exist, usually in Marine bases (like Marineford) or as part of a royal castle (like the Ryugu Kingdom) or some other facilities (like the Corrida Colosseum), but are smaller in scope and intended for temporary use regarding bigger criminals, who may eventually be transferred to Impel Down.

Translation and Dub Issues
Although the original version of the anime, Gol D. Roger was executed by stabbing, in the 4Kids dub Gol. D Roger was "hung" at the "Roguetown" gallows; and in the English-language manga it says the Marines "lopped off his head" (decapitated him). The original Japanese manga never reveals precisely how he was executed (though it depicts the scene) but it remains to be seen whether this will become an important plot point in the future, or if it was simply a way of lessening the visceral impact of the character's death.

Trivia

 * Though extreme, the act of punishing those who have anything to do with piracy was also common in the real world, hence why many pirates used nicknames or epithets to protect those around them.
 * Killing babies who have criminal parents or a criminal parent is considered a form of eugenics and at the height of the eugenics movement, there were instances where criminals were prevented from having children. This branch of Eugenics is breeding based on behavior, which is often can be a set of ideas criticized even among its supporters especially if is based on social stigma i.e. not all criminals could be considered "evil".
 * Children do not always emulate their parents and this is one issue with this particular view on eugenics. This is actually displayed by the Monkey D. family, with Dragon not emulating his father who is a hero of the Marines, whereas Dragon is a revolutionary. While Marines are considered "good guys", Dragon is "the world's worst criminal".
 * One consequence is also displayed by Portgas D. Ace. Monkey D. Garp wanted Ace and Luffy to become Marines, however Ace in grew up being hated for his existence as the Son of the Pirate King and this painted his perception of the world. This lead him to learn to follow in his father's footsteps and become a pirate and to support Luffy also becoming a pirate as they were "sons of criminals".
 * Relatives of criminals such as Nico Robin, Portgas D. Ace and Monkey D. Luffy, who are hunted based on their relationships alone, are practices of Sippenhaft, which is to blame relatives of the criminal for sharing the same blood as the criminal and judge them guilty of the same crime.

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