This type of justice, according to Sixtus Adeola, in his book, Justice and its Implications, is a “virtue that regulates the activities of people in any given community; which also includes the rights between one individual and another individual” (25). He believes that in commutative justice, “the concept of restitution is much more emphasised, and that any violation of commutative justice imposes on the guilty party the duty of restitution” (30). He further states that “it is against the commutative justice to cheat the other person in an exchange of goods simply because the other party does not know the true value of what he/she exchanges” (37). However, Sunday Olusanya in his book, Kinds of …show more content…
Also, Chukwujekwu in his book, A Basic Course in Ethics: A Study in Ethical Values, agrees with Omoregbe on the fact that commutative justice involves exchange between two individuals or groups which he expressed as ‘commuting’, that is, in giving and receiving; and it is between one person and another or between groups acting as if they are private persons negotiating on equal terms (169). However, Christine Gichure in his book, Ethics for Africa Today: An Introduction to Business Ethics, elucidates further that this type of justice is concerned with “safeguarding personal rights and the lawful protection against such offences as theft, bodily harm, family or property infringements; and it also requires prompt payment for services rendered” (90). Michael Pennock in his book, Catholic Social Teaching, explains commutative justice in terms of business and economics. He believes that commutative justice is achieved when “one gets what one pays for; and also obliges one to pay for what one gets and it is based on the principle of equality between what is given and what is received” (33). In a similar way, Kevin McKenna in his book, A Concise Guide to Catholic Social Teaching, believes that commutative justice calls for a fundamental fairness in all agreements and exchanges between individuals or private social groups (39). Christopher Chinedu in his book, The Fundamentals of Justice also agrees with McKenna as he states that the primary aim of commutative justice, is to “render to everyone what belongs to him/her, with nobody considered a looser or gainer, which is the meaning of fairness”