The real purpose of the justice system is to make people believe in it so they avoid settling their own disputes. Anything else is incidental. Actually punishin

The real purpose of the justice system is to make people believe in it so they avoid settling their own disputes. Anything else is incidental. Actually punishing criminals and not punishing innocent people helps, but is by no means necessary. It’s like democracy: the primary advantage is that people think they can effect change so they will refrain from violent revolution. Whether voters can actually effect change is largely irrelevant as long as people believe it.