justice delayed is justice denied

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

a legal maxim asserting that a failure to provide timely justice is itself a form of injustice — that rights vindicated years after the harm was done provide inadequate remedy to those who suffered, and that the uncertainty and ongoing harm experienced while awaiting legal resolution are themselves a denial of justice; attributed to the English jurist William Gladstone and incorporated into the Magna Carta's provision that justice will not be sold, delayed, or denied, the maxim highlights the temporal dimension of justice as a critical aspect of its quality; civil litigation that takes ten years to resolve may technically vindicate legal rights while practically destroying the lives of those who sought vindication; in criminal law unnecessary pretrial detention while awaiting trial punishes before conviction; in international human rights contexts justice delayed for victims of atrocities may mean justice denied when memories fade, witnesses die, and perpetrators evade accountability