Determining Ius according to Thomas Aquinas. A Realistic Model for Judicial Decisions

The Thomistic reflection on ius presents itself as an interesting example of realistic reflection, since in it the legal system finds in judgment its fulcrum and judgment proves to be regulated by a criterion that is not primarily the application of the law but the achievement of justice. Achieving justice is carried out, however, through dialectics, according to an essentially realistic kind of objectivity, as shown by the Thomistic definitions of ius as ipsa res iusta and of the medium iustitiae as medium rei.