Justice

The victim's sovereign act of closing the moral debt created by harm. The debt may be closed by collection -- proportionately mirroring harm back to the offender (retribution) -- or by voluntary release (forgiveness). Both erase guilt. Restitution repairs the material damage independently; Justice disposes of the moral debt. Justice requires a real victim: without a victim there is no debt, and without a debt there is nothing to close. Justice is not revenge, which exceeds proportion, nor control, which creates new victims. A punisher acting on behalf of a victim is a proxy for Justice; their legitimacy ends where the victim's mandate ends. When the victim has been destroyed -- as in murder -- no proxy is possible, no mandate can be granted, and the moral debt becomes permanent. The offender's guilt is uncloseable, and their claim to reciprocity is forfeit.