Marked by honesty and fairness; devoid of self-interest, dishonesty, injustice, or bias [a and impartial tribunal] 2: acceptable as a medium of trade [a salary] 3: in accordance with merit or significance [and reasonable reparation for the harms] These are all definitions of the word "fair." In law, "fair" means equal and reciprocal. Two people or parties are considered fair if they treat each other equally and give each other an opportunity to be heard before deciding what action should be taken. In general, society believes that things should be done "fairly" if they are done at all. For example, if you break someone's window, we expect you to pay for it even though nobody was hurt.