Giudici ‘di carta’ e giudici ‘di ferro’. L’immagine della giustizia amministrata nella letteratura ottocentesca

Literature – particularly Nineteenth Century novels – provides us with a wide range of exemplary narratives about what the administration of justice should NOT be. As such, and through its vivid representation of the negative consequences of various kinds of ‘injustice’ on the lives and sufferings of ‘concrete’ people, it appears more effective than any abstract course on legal ethics in offering to legal practitioners (be they judges, prosecutors, lawyers, or police officers) a guide to a responsible and ‘human’ approach to law and its application. More specifically, three typologies of ineffective and unjust administration of justice are examined through the paper: bureaucratization, corruption, and formalistic application of laws grounded in violence and absolute power. Finally, individual adaptations to unjust legal systems are briefly discussed, such as revenge and self-administered justice, on one hand, and empathy, compassion and benevolence, on the other.