Justice

The victim's sovereign act of closing the moral debt created by harm. The victim may close the debt by collection -- proportionately mirroring harm back to the offender (retribution) -- or by voluntary release (forgiveness). Both erase guilt. Restitution repairs the material damage; together with retribution it is the punishment that erases guilt, and the victim's collection or release closes 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 offender has destroyed the victim -- as in murder -- no proxy is possible, no one can grant a mandate, and the moral debt becomes permanent. The offender's guilt is uncloseable, and their claim to reciprocity is forfeit.