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Justice and Fairness

Almost all the ethical codes consulted refer to justice in one form or another. Here it is listed alongside 'fairness', as ever since John Rawls's influential A Theory of Justice (Revised, 1999) the two concepts have been linked in popular discourse, according to the principle 'justice as fairness'.

As fairness, justice is cited frequently, for example, in academic codes, as fairness to students, including especially refraining from exploiting free academic labour, and ensuring credit is given for any academic work they may have depended on (SFU, 1992) and viewing academics "as role models (who) must follow a professional code of ethics" to ensure "students receive a fair, honest and uncompromising education" from teachers who "demonstrate integrity, impartiality and ethical behavior" (Guyana, 2017).

Even viewed as 'fairness', however, ambiguities remain. As the Belmont Report notes. The idea of justice, "in the sense of 'fairness in distribution' or 'what is deserved'" can be viewed from numerous perspectives, each of which needs to be considered, specifically, "(1) to each person an equal share, (2) to each person according to individual need, (3) to each person according to individual effort, (4) to each person according to societal contribution, and (5) to each person according to merit." The authors also note that exposing a disadvantaged group to risk is an injustice (DHEW, 1978:6-7).

Fairness is also viewed as impartiality, an avoidance of bias or arbitrary ruling. In journalism, for example, "the primary value is to describe the news impartially - "without fear or favour", as stated by New York Times "patriarch" Adolph Ochs (NYT, 2018). Similarly, the High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence (AI HLEG, 2019) endorses "diversity, non-discrimination and fairness - including the avoidance of unfair bias, accessibility and universal design, and stakeholder participation." And the European University Institute opposesd acts that are arbitrary, biased or exploitative (EUI, 2019).

Justice, sometimes coined as 'natural justice' (CPA, 2017:11), can also be depicted in terms of rights (Stevens & Silbey, 2014; Asilomar, 2017; Access Now, 2018). That is how it appears in the Asilomar declaration. The principles themselves reflect a broadly progressive social agenda, "compatible with ideals of human dignity, rights, freedoms, and cultural diversity," recognizing the need for personal privacy, individual liberty, and also the idea that "AI technologies should benefit and empower as many people as possible" and "the economic prosperity created by AI should be shared broadly, to benefit all of humanity."

This interpretation of justice is also expressed as an endorsement of diversity and prohibition of discrimination (Sullivan-Marx, 2020; Brandom, 2018; CPA, 2017:11; BACB, 2014; etc.) based on various social, economic, cultural and other factors (this list varies from code to code). The National Union of Journalists code, for example, states explicitly that journalists should produce "no material likely to lead to hatred or discrimination on the grounds of a person's age, gender, race, colour, creed, legal status, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation" (NUJ, 2011).

Justice, viewed from either the perspective of fairness or rights, can be expanded to include redress for current or past wrongs, or to prevent future wrongs. As early as 1973, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, on observing abuses in data collection, proposed a 'Code of Fair Information Practice'. The intent of the code was to redress this imbalance and provide some leverage for individuals about whom data is being collected. The Toronto Declaration similarly calls for "clear, independent, and visible processes for redress following adverse individual or societal effects" (Brandom, 2018).

Depending on one's perspective, the principle of justice may be listed together with, or apart from, any number of other principles, including fairness, rights, non-discrimination, and redress. That we have listed them here in one section does not presuppose that we are describing a single coherent core value or principle; rather, what we have here is a family of related and sometimes inconsistent principles that are often listed in the popular discourse as a single word, such as 'justice', as though there is some shared understanding of this. Many codes of ethics also explicitly endorse an advocacy role for professionals to promote the values stated in the code. The AMA Declaration of Professional Responsibility, for example, asserts a commitment to "advocate for social, economic, educational, and political changes that ameliorate suffering and contribute to human well-being" (Riddick, 2003).

The codes vary from advice to "teach what uplifts and unites people and refuse to be, in any way whatsoever, the propagandists of a partisan conception" (Soleil, 1923) to establishing a shared vision of teaching and to "to identify the values, knowledge and skills that are distinctive to the teaching profession" (OCT, 2016) to expressing solidarity with other members of the profession, for example, stating that criticism of other members will be conducted in private (BCTF, 2020).

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