Law
Law is an instrument which regulates
human conduct/behavior. Law means
justice, morality, reason, order and Righteous from the point of the society.
Also, law is concerned with the individual liberty of a person whereas morality
deals with the collective ideas of what is good and bad. Morality has been to include, all manner of
rules, standards, principles or norms by which men regulate, guide and control
their relationships with themselves and with themselves and with others. Both,
law and morality, have a common origin.[1]
Connection
between law and morality
Law and Morality are intimately
related to each other. Laws are generally based on the moral princi[ples of
society, Both regulate the conduct of the individual in society, The Lwas of
state thus conform to the prevailing standard of morality. Morals as the basis
of law, In the early stages of society there existed no clear distinction
between law and morality, All rules regulating human conduct originated from a
single source. All of them have been naturally made out of supernatural fear.
When the state came into being, It picked up those rules which were important
for the development of the society and converted them into law
Morals as a test of law. Several jurists are of the belief that law
must conform to morals. When natural law theories were popular, it was opined
that positive law most conform to natural law. Natural law was viewed as the
highest form of law. But today the law is not tested on the basis of morality. However
a close study indicates that a majority of laws nevertheless conform to morals.
This is because morality is an important part of any society and law is deeply
interrelated with society.
In the words of Paton, If the law
legs beyond popular standard, it falls into disrepute, if the legal standards
are too high, there are great difficulties of enforcement
Morals as the end of law. Many
jurists hold the opinion that morals are indirectly the end of the law. The
purpose of the law is to ensure effective administration of the justice and the
idea of justice is often defined on the basis of morality. Therefore, morals
are the end of the law.
On
the other hand there are differences between Law and Morality such as the
following;
Law is concerned with the
individual liberty of a person whereas morality deals with the collective ideas
of what is good and bad
Law regulates the conduct of a man
as long as he is a member of a specific community whereas morals guide the
conduct of man even when he is all alone
Laws is enforced by way of
“external coercion” whereas morals appeal to the free will of an individual
Laws take the external acts of a
man into consideration whereas morals
took towards factors such as inner determination and direction of the will
In Law legal principles need to
incorporate a degree of while Morality is invariably much more flexible and
variable.[2]
The
Case of R (Pretty) Vs DPP fn 1 has aroused great interest in the
country. Diane pretty suffers from an incurable terminal illness and has
expressed a desire to die at a time of her choosing. Libertarian advocates of
the autonomous right of people to choose their own destiny and end their lives
how and when they want to, identify with Mrs. Pretty, They Argue that her wish
is her own choice and violates no one else and is in everyone’s best interest.
Mrs. Pretty sees death as the preferred option and since it will eventually
happen it is better to legalise it and regulate it. In the eyes of the victim
and family death may not be such a bad thing. The house of lords has
acknowledge that the case before it concerns issues which are of a moral
nature, but that the judicial functions of the Court are to enforce the law as
it stands and not to impose any moral view points or to allow its own moral
value to affect decision. This shows how the law and morality are intertwined
in this instance but that the court’s function is not to interpret the law as
they might wish it to be.[3]
Therefore, It’s main argument, that
is, the connection between law and Morality is fluid, and values derivered from
law and morals norms can complement and overlap with each otherin workers
claim-making.The basic tenets of Marxist-Leninist theory of law and states.
REFERENCES;
CASE LAWS;
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