Law and Morality

POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSIGNMENT LAW AND MORALITY

Submitted by Ranjeet Mathew Jacob BA LLB IInd Year Div-‘D’ Roll No. 38 PRN 09010123038 INTRODUCTION

Law and morality are concerned with social order, and their development involves social processes. Many laws are formalizations of moral values—most obviously laws against killing, adultery and false witness, for example. Morality has a wider scope than the law: actions regarded as immoral are not necessarily illegal. Early in human history, morality was probably concerned only with issues of fairly direct relevance to individual survival and reproduction. As societies became more complex its scope became wider. The same is probably true of law, which became necessary through the need for formalization and for stronger means to control severe infringements. Thus, the range of actions that can be regarded as moral/immoral is broader than those considered as legal/illegal. Occasionally, both the law and morality are concerned with behaviour that lies at the extremity of behaviour that is otherwise condoned or normal, such as marital rape. Law has been shaped by moral values, and laws that do not have some reference to social values are seldom viable. Law and morality are like day and night. One cannot exist without other, but are also totally different entities too. To understand law and morality it would be better if we look into the differences and relation between them DIFFERENCES IN LAW AND MORALITY There exists much difference in the law and morality. It differs not only its subject matter but also in its application and enforcement. The main differences are being discussed under the following heads:a. Scope And Content

Law and morality differ in the scope of application and content to which applies. Law affects only a part of man’s life. Law is a tool used by the state to control the external acts of man which can be brought under the purview of legislation. Law cannot keep a check on motives, conscience and other emotional and mental factors. Unlike law, morality, on the other hand, concerns itself with the man in his entirety. It deals with all his actions, thoughts, motive and conscience too. Therefore morality keeps a check on the man’s thinking and deciding process. It is due to this very fact that acts that are against morality may not be considered as a illegal act. Law more over declares certain acts to be illegal and it is due this fact that these acts are considered illegal. Morality, on the other hand, doesn’t declare what is right and wrong. All the actions done are decided in accordance to the moral values that prevails in the society at a particular point of time.

Therefore it is clear that law and morality differ in its scope and content of application in the society.

b. Sanction

Law and morality differ in its enforcement nature too. Law is a tool wield by the state. It is therefore enforced by the state. Crime in general is considered as a wrong against the society and the state take charge of enforcing the law and punishing the accused and protecting the interest of the public. Moreover, law is enforced by means of force. An act of breaking law might be punished with a fine or imprisonment. State uses force to enforce the sanction on the wrong doer.

On the other hand, morality is not enforced by the state. It is usually the enforced by individuals alone. Morality is all based on conscience. Conscience is a matter of personal and individuals thinking. The ethical appeal is always to individual’s own sense to what is right or wrong. It is, therefore, a matter of personal views and moral values. It is not sanctioned by way of force like in law. Moral conscience is the tool that morality uses to enforce its decisions.

c. Precision and Clarity

Law and morality differs in its precision and clarity. Law is precise and certain. There is no vagueness or ambiguity surrounding it. It is same for everybody and consists of uniform rules of action. It is clearly laid down in form of statutes and regulations. There is only one body of rules applicable to all persons in identical circumstances. It is, therefore, objective in nature and not subjective.

Morality, on the other hand, is not precise and is ambiguous in nature. It is very much subjective, since conscience is matter of individual. It may differ from man to man and is a matter of opinion of men that exists at a period of time. Since it differs from man to man, it is clear that there exists no uniformity in its application.

CO-RELATION BETWEEN LAW AND MORALITY As mentioned before, law and morality are like day and night. They are separate entities in themselves, but they cannot exist without each other. Therefore it is inevitable to discuss the

difference without the co-relation among these two very much interlinked concepts. The affinity between these concepts is discussed in the following heads:a. Identical in origin

In primitive society, law and morality were hardly distinguished. In ancient India, the word ‘dharma’ meant both law and morality. The Greek thinkers Plato and Aristotle identified both moral values with political values. In short, law and morality were identical, both arising from habit and experience of the primitive social life. It was the beginning of the concept of state that law and morality got different character.

b. Common objective to be achieved

Law and morality have common objectives/goals to achieve. Law, as a uniform rule of action, establishes a common measure of conduct for all. Morality through its universal appeal ensures that good law are followed and enforced. Moreover, law cannot afford to ignore altogether the moral ideas of the people. Laws, which are not in conformity with the prevailing standards, will be difficult to enforce. Laws are used to change the prevailing ethical standards of society. Laws like prevention of sati; dowry prohibition etc. changed the prevailing moral standards of the society. Also morality is sometimes used as a reason to bring about the change and reforms in the legal system and legislations.

Thus law and morality will go in hand-in-hand since both these concept cannot exist without the other. To see this aspect, we shall see a legislation which proves the same very point. The Juvenile Justice Act,2000 is a legislation which is trying to enforce law and through the enforcement try to bring about the enforcement or betterment of the standards of morality of the society. Juvenile Justice Act ensures that the children who has gone out of the stream of the society is guided back to the mainstream and grows up to be a responsible and productive citizen of the society. It ensures that the needy children be taken care by the state. This piece of legislation also speaks of establishment of special homes and corrective houses and rehabilitation for those children who indulge in criminal acts. This piece of legislation is aimed to bring about a improvement in the personal perception of ethics and morality of those children who have indulged in criminal acts and have misinterpreted the moral values and conscience.