Consider the following statements : Identify the statement which implies…

Concept — what the principles of natural justice consist of.

Natural justice is the minimum standard of procedural fairness binding on anyone who decides a matter affecting another person. It is defined by two classical maxims: audi alteram partem — hear the other side, so that no one is condemned unheard — and nemo judex in causa sua — no one may be a judge in their own cause. A statement therefore implies natural justice only when it lays down one of these procedural requirements; a statement that merely comments on natural justice from the outside does not.

Application — testing the statements against that definition.

"A reasonable opportunity of being heard must be given" lays down the first maxim itself: before an authority decides a matter against a person, that person must be allowed to put their side. The requirement is the very content of natural justice, so this is the statement in which natural justice is implied.

Cross-check — how the remaining statements relate to the definition.

• "The principle of natural justice is followed by the Courts" reports a practice, namely who applies the principle. It presupposes natural justice and says nothing about what the principle requires.

• "Justice delayed is justice denied" is a maxim about the timeliness of a remedy; it underlies the demand for a speedy trial, which is a guarantee distinct from the right to a fair hearing.

• "Natural justice is an inalienable right of a citizen" asserts a status, namely how the principle is classified. It too speaks about natural justice instead of stating a rule that natural justice consists of.

Result: the statement requiring that a reasonable opportunity of being heard be given is the one that implies natural justice.