Book 5
10
And it is clear that the giver as well as the receiver of an undue share may be acting unjustly, and that the receiver is not doing so in all cases. For the charge of injustice attaches, not to a man of whom it can be said that he does what is unjust, but to one of whom it can be said that he does this voluntarily, that is to say one from whom the action originates; and the origin of the act in this case lies in the giver and not in the receiver of the share.
11
Again, to do a thing has more than one meaning. In a certain sense a murder is done by the inanimate instrument, or by the murderer’s hand, or by a slave acting under orders. But though these do what is unjust, they cannot be said to act unjustly.It is not clear whether this is meant to apply, in certain circumstances, to the distributor, or to the receiver, or to both.
12
Again, although if a judge has given an unfair judgement in ignorance, he is not guilty of injustice, nor is the judgement unjust, in the legal sense of justice (though the judgement is unjust in one sense, for legal justice is different from justice in the primary sense), yet if he knowingly gives an unjust judgement, he is himself taking more than his share, either of favor or of vengeance.
13
Hence a judge who gives an unjust judgement for these motives takes more than his due just as much as if he shared the proceeds of the injustice; for even a judge who assigns a piece of land on that condition does not receive land but money.
