something (such as a fact or circumstance) that shows an action to be reasonable or necessary
<noun.cognition> he considered misrule a justification for revolution
a statement in explanation of some action or belief
<noun.communication>
the act of defending or explaining or making excuses for by reasoning
<noun.act> the justification of barbarous means by holy ends
Justification \Jus`ti*fi*ca"tion\, n. [L. justificatio: cf. F. justification. See {Justify}.] 1. The act of justifying or the state of being justified; a showing or proving to be just or conformable to law, justice, right, or duty; defense; vindication; support; as, arguments in justification of the prisoner's conduct; his disobedience admits justification.
I hope, for my brother's justification, he wrote this but as an essay or taste of my virtue. --Shak.
2. (Law) The showing in court of a sufficient lawful reason why a party charged or accused did that for which he is called to answer.
3. (Theol.) The act of justifying, or the state of being justified, in respect to God's requirements.
Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification. --Rom. iv. 25.
In such righteousness To them by faith imputed, they may find Justification toward God, and peace Of conscience. --Milton.
4. (Print.) Adjustment of type (in printing), or of the final spacing of printed text, by spacing it so as to make it exactly fill a line, or line up at one edge of the allotted portion of the printed page; adjustment of a cut so as to hold it in the right place; also, the leads, quads, etc., used for making such adjustment; as, left justification is the most common format for simple letters, but left and right justification is typically used in books.
It's often credited to Thomas Jefferson, but he left no record of having said it, and for that we can be thankful: Self-proclaimed patriots of many lands have used the quotation as justification for suspension of civil liberties.
"We don't think there is any safety justification for either requiring the airlines to give up a seat for free or for requiring a parent to purchase a seat if they don't want to," said FAA spokesman Fred Farrar in February.
'The former military governments used to use the North Korean threat as a justification for keeping the people under authoritarian control,' said one student.
But despite the debacle in the Tokyo stock market this year, analysts cited some justification for the big rise in Japanese shares, only that it got out of hand.
Economic justification for plant closures by the duopoly should be tested in the market, by offering them for sale at site value to other interested operators.
The possibility of misinterpretation is no justification for suppression.
Permit a taxpayer who defeats the IRS to recover attorneys' fees unless the IRS could prove it had substantial justification for its position.
With ample justification, KPMG doubts whether many of them are being properly integrated. The survey, of top executives in 250 medium-sized and large British companies, comes up with mixed conclusions.
The Senate-approved measure, an amendment to the Federal Home Loan Bank Board Act, also contains provisions requiring the RTC to submit "detailed justification" to the Congress for future requests for funds.
Mr. Sumita said building inflation pressures would be justification for a shift in monetary policy.
Some CEOs simply feel, with some justification, that smaller boards get more done.
The Michigan Democrat is among critics who have demanded greater access to internal documents and justification on any cost-benefit analysis used in future cases.
Any Russian company offering Tchaikovsky ballets is, I'd hazard, justification enough for audiences to flock to a theatre.
Maybe the clue lies in a belief that the jokey titles of the ensembles are sufficient guarantee of style, and that supposedly humorous mime, thinly armatured with dance, is justification for professional existence.
"It is hard to justify any subsidy on grain, but there is no economic justification for subsidizing U.S. milling companies whatsoever," they said.
'All the banks will be open today, so the board decided there was no justification to close early.
The justification for all this regulation is "sometimes hard to understand," says Jeffrey Zuckerman, director of the FTC's bureau of competition.
Achieving this is never easy, but the justification - to build up funds that will be of lasting benefit to communities, rather than simply financing single projects - is a powerful one.
NatWest Securities says recent data on orders and industrial output point to further economic weakness, providing some justification for monetary easing.
He claims, with some justification, that Australia's geography gives satellite an inherent advantage.
As justification for the investment bankers, Mr. Miller told the court that "things are happening that could have this case come to a speedy conclusion."
But however much justification there has been for the Mexican program, the limitations of that model have become obvious.
Pure snobbery, you might say, with more than a little justification.
It is not enough of a justification to say that their actions are designed to maximise profits. However, in three ways, the arguments in this volume are deficient.
The bureau slashed more than $289 million in access costs after finding that many local phone companies forecast "unusually high growth rates in their costs without providing adequate explanation or justification."
Friday's report again showed there was little justification for worries of a resurgence in inflation, analysts agreed.
European companies are less likely to spend heavily on IT without obvious cost justification.
Fitzwater said the president's justification for the release of the aid must also meet two out of three conditions cited in the legislation.
But one part of the network's justification did strike a chord, the statement that "ads encourage people to imitate them."
India considers this the supreme justification of the secular state.