Justice and the Justice System

This article investigates the extent to which conceptually similar financial offending (tax evasion and welfare fraud) is treated differently in the New Zealand and Australian justice systems. The study finds that welfare fraud is significantly more likely to be prosecuted than tax evasion. Furthermore, prosecuted welfare fraud is likely to receive a harsher penalty than financially equivalent tax evasion. Several theoretical approaches are investigated to help explain these different treatments. Specifically, theories of justice (Rawls and Walzer) and theories of punishment (retribution, deterrence and restitution) are explored. Theories of justice and punishment provide little in the way of explanatory power into the different treatments of the two offences. Moreover, none of the theoretical frameworks investigated provides any justification for the different treatments observed. This inability to reconcile theory and practice generates two conclusions: the justice system does not meet the requirements of theories of justice and punishment; and theories of justice and punishment are insufficient to explain practices in the justice system.