RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAW AND MORALITY OR ETHICS

Law is an enactment made by the state. It is backed by physical coercion. Its breach is
punishable by the courts. It represents the will of the state and realizes its purpose.

Laws reflect the political, social and economic relationships in the society. It determines rights
and duties of the citizens towards one another and towards the state.

It is through law that the government fulfils its promises to the people. It reflects the
sociological need of society.

Law and morality are intimately related to each other. Laws are generally based on the moral
principles of society. Both regulate the conduct of the individual in society.

They influence each other to a great extent. Laws, to be effective, must represent the moral
ideas of the people. But good laws sometimes serve to rouse the moral conscience of the
people and create and maintain such conditions as may encourage the growth of morality.

Laws regarding prohibition and spread of primary education are examples of this nature.
Morality cannot, as a matter of fact, be divorced from politics. The ultimate end of a state is the
promotion of general welfare and moral perfection of man.

It is the duty of the state to formulate such laws as will elevate the moral standard of the
people. The laws of a state thus conform to the prevailing standard of morality. Earlier writers
on Political Science never made any distinction between law and morality.

Plato's Republic is as good a treatise on politics as on ethics. In ancient India, the term Dharma
connoted both law and morality. Law, it is pointed out, is not merely the command of the
sovereign, it represents the idea of right or wrong based on the prevalent morality of the
people.

Moreover, obedience to law depends upon the active support of the moral sentiments of the
people. Laws which are not supported by the moral conscience of the people are liable to
become dead letters.
For example, laws regarding Prohibition in India have not succeeded on account of the fact that
full moral conscience of the people has not been aroused in favor of such laws.

As Green put it, "In attempting to enforce an unpopular law, a government may be doing more
harm than good by creating and spreading the habit of disobedience to law. The total cost of
such an attempt may well be greater than the social gain."

Although law and morality arc interdependent yet they differ from each other in their content,
definiteness and sanction.

Some points of distinction between law and morality may be brought out as follows:
Law:
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the law as:

‘the body of rules, whether proceeding from formal enactment or from custom, which a
particular state or community recognizes as binding on its members or subjects.’

That this should be regarded as the definition of law for the English language is evidence of the
influence legal positivism has upon the philosophy of law in our culture. The central themes of
positivism are the contentions: firstly, that the existence of law rests upon identifiable social
facts and, secondly, that it is necessary to maintain a conceptual distinction between law and
morality. In this essay I will examine the positivist assertion that law is identifiable
independently of morality, with a particular focus on the theory of H.L.A Hart.

1. Law regulates and controls the external human conduct. It is not concerned with inner
motives. A person may be having an evil intention in his or her mind but law does not care for
it.

Law will move into action only when this evil intention is translated into action and some harm
is actually done to another person.

2. Law is universal in a particular society. All the individuals are equally subjected to it. It does
not change from man to man.
3. Political laws are precise and definite as there is a regular organ in every state for the
formulation of laws.

4. Law is framed and enforced by a determinate political authority. It enjoys the sanction of the
state. Disobedience of law is generally followed by physical punishment.

The fear of punishment acts as a deterrent to the breach of political law.

5. Law falls within the purview of a subject known as Jurisprudence.

Morality:
1. Morality regulates and controls both the inner motives and the external actions. It is
concerned with the whole life of man.

The province of law is thus limited as compared with that of morality because law is simply
concerned with external actions and does not take into its fold the inner motives.

Morality condemns a person if he or she has some evil intentions but laws are not applicable
unless these intentions are manifested externally.

2. Morality is variable. It changes from man to man and from age to age. Every man has his own
moral principles.

3. Moral laws lack precision and definiteness as there is no authority to make and enforce
them.

4. Morality is neither framed nor enforced by any political authority. It does not enjoy the
support of the state. Breach of moral principles is not accompanied by any physical
punishment.
The only check against the breach of morality is social condemnation or individual conscience.
'Moral actions are a matter of choice of inner conscience of the individual, laws are a matter of
compulsion'.

5. Morality is studied under a separate branch of knowledge known as Ethics.

We may conclude the discussion in the words of Gilchrist, "The individual moral life manifests
itself in manifold ways. The state is the supreme condition of the individual moral life, for
without the state no moral life is possible.

The state, therefore, regulates other organizations in the common interest. The state, however,
has a direct function in relation to morality."

Points to Remember

Laws may be defined as external rules of human conduct backed by the sovereign political
authority. Law and morality are intimately related to each other.

Laws are generally based on the moral principles of a particular society. Some points of
distinction may be brought out as follows:
(a) Laws regulate external human conduct whereas morality mainly regulates internal conduct.

(b) Laws are universal; morality is variable.

(c) Laws are definite and precise while morality is variable.

(d) Laws are upheld by the coercive power of the state; morality simply enjoys the support of
public opinion or individual conscience.

(e) Laws are studied under Jurisprudence but morality is studied under Ethics.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CUSTOM AND LAW
(i) Law is a make; custom is a growth. Law is explicitly and deliberately made by the
definite power of the state, whereas custom “is a group of procedure that has
gradually emerged, without express enactment, without any constituted authority
to declare it; to apply it and to safeguard it.” Custom emerges spontaneously
without any guide or direction. Law is consciously created and put into force at the
moment of its enactment. In other words, law is a make, custom is a growth.

(ii) Law needs a special agency for enforcement, custom does not. Law is applied by a
special agency and is sanctioned by organized coercive authority. Custom does not
need any special agency for its application it is enforced by spontaneous social
action. No physical penalty visits a violator of custom; whereas punishment is meted
out to one who violates the law. The state will not punish a child if it does not touch
the feet of his parents in the morning.

(iii) Law is specific, customs are not. Law is specific, definite and clear. One can know
what the laws of the land are. But as Maine opined, it is only known by a privileged
minority. Customs, on the other hand, are not definite or clear. They are not codified
in any single book so that it becomes difficult to know all the customs of the land.

(iv) Law is more flexible and adaptable than custom. Law can readily adjust itself to
changing condition: whereas customs cannot be readily changed. Customs are
relatively fixed and permanent. In times of crisis a law can be immediately enacted
to meet the emergency. A sudden change cannot be brought about in custom.

(v) Customs fade and disappear without formal abolition and without recognition by
any authority, but laws disappear only when abolished by a recognized authority.
Just as formal enactment of law is necessary for it to come into effect, so its formal
abolition is necessary to stop its binding influence.

(vi) Law is more idealistic than custom. Law tends to be more idealistic than customs. It
is the offspring of mind and directed to aims which are far above the actual practice
of society, custom is the product experience and mainly concerned with the daily
routine of life. Law reforms the customs and abolishes those which are out of tune
with the changing conditions, for example, the Hindu Code Bill seeks to reform and
abolish many of the Hindu customs regarding marriage, divorce and succession.

(vii) Law generally deals with matters which are vital to the life of society: whereas the
subject matter of custom is more ordinary and familiar.
SPECIFIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAW AND MORALITY
Law and morality are intimately related to each other. Laws are generally based on the moral
principles of society. Both regulate the conduct of the individual in society. They influence each
other to a great extent. Laws, to be effective, must represent the moral ideas of the people. But
good laws sometimes serve to rouse the moral conscience of the people and create and
maintain such conditions as may encourage the growth of morality.
The precise areas of relationship between law and morality can be stated in the following
manner:
1) Law is related to morality in the setting forth of those virtues that are related to the common
good. This does not mean that positive human law should prohibit all vices nor command all
virtues: rather it prohibits only the grosser failings of mankind which threaten the very survival
of society and commands those virtues which can be ordained by human means to the
common good.
2) Law is related to morality by the moral obligation imposed, i.e., by the necessity of an act in
relation to a necessary end-since law as the command of practical reason necessarily implies an
obligation. Thus obligation flows from the essential notion of law as an effective dictate of
practical reason, i.e., a connection of some necessity between the act commanded and the end
for which that act is commanded. However, positive human laws' obligation is not in that same
manner as morality's obligation.
3) Law is related to morality inasmuch as law is subject to and cannot contradict moral
principles, i.e., natural moral law.
4) Law is related to morality inasmuch as both stem and are directed by the same source:
practical reason or prudence. A keener insight into this particular relationship can be
ascertained by determining the nature of politics; politics is a human work of art, i.e., a work of
experience and prudence-and as prudence, politics is intrinsically related to ethics.
5) Law is related to morality inasmuch as justice is a moral concept which is meaningless
outside the area of morality. Essentially, justice consists in the reaction of equality.
Difference Between Law and Justice
The concepts of law and justice are often confused and misinterpreted by many. While the two
are strictly connected, they are not the same thing. Justice is a broad concept that is based on
equality of rights, fairness and morality. Conversely, law is a body of regulations and standards
set up by governments and international bodies and is (or should be) based on the idea of
justice. Laws are written norms that regulate the actions of the citizens and of the government
itself in all aspects, whereas justice is a principle that may or may not be universally recognized.

What is Law?
Laws are rules and guidelines established and enforced by the government and its entities.
They vary from country to country and there is a body of international laws that applied to all
states that decide to ratify certain treaties or conventions. National laws are principles and
norms that regulate the behavior of all citizens and of all individuals under the government’s
jurisdiction. Laws are created by the government thorough a long and complex process, and
once established they are implemented by governmental entities and interpreted by lawyers
and judges. Laws establish what citizens, business, and governmental agencies can or cannot
do. Although there is a set of written legislations, the judiciary system has the power to
interpret them and to enforce them in all different situations. Laws vary from one country to
another (or even from one state to another in the United States): that is why lawyers can only
operate in the country where they passed the national exam.

What is Justice?
Justice is a broad and somehow abstract concept based on equality of rights, fairness, kindness,
dignity, moral and ethics. In a just world, we would not have:
 Discrimination;
 Violence;
 Abuses;
 Poverty;
 Slavery; and
 Injustices in general.
Therefore, all laws should be based on the idea of justice and all governments should enforce
national laws in a just and equal way. Unfortunately, this is not always the case and laws are
often broken, non-respected and/or enforced in biased and partial ways. Furthermore, justice
supersedes national legislation and applies to all individuals without discriminations or
limitations.
Similarities between Law and Justice   
The concepts of law and justice are fairly similar as most laws are thought to be just and fair.
Some of the main similarities between the two include:
1. Both concepts regulate human behavior and aim at creating a more just and equal
environment;
2. Law should be based on the idea of justice and should be implemented and interpreted
in a just manner – without discriminations; and
3. Both are based on the ideas of morality, equality, order and fairness.
Difference between Law and Justice
Although the two concepts are strictly linked, there are key differences that cannot be
overlooked:
1. The term law refers to an existing and concrete set of written regulations established by the
government in order to regulate and control the actions of the citizens. Conversely, justice is
not a universally recognised concept and is subject to interpretations. Justice is often depicted a
woman wearing a blindfold– representing equality and fairness, and applying laws and
regulations to all individuals without discrimination. Yet, there is no common understanding of
justice and there is no unique book or text to refer to; and
2. Laws can vary from country to country and the process with which they are created can
change as well. For instance, in democratic countries, laws are adopted following a long debate
and an even longer process of checks and balances; conversely, in authoritarian countries, laws
are decided and established by the ruling party (or by the ruling person) without seeking the
support of the majority. Conversely, the idea of justice is more or less consistent across all
countries: moral values and ethics tend to supersede borders and geographic divisions.
Summary of Law and Justice
The terms “law” and “justice” refer to two similar yet different concepts. The ideas of law and
justice often go hand-in-hand but refer to two different ideas. Law is a system of regulations,
standards, principles and norms created by a country’s government in order to regulate the life
and the actions of the citizens. Laws are found in written codes and are enforced by the
government and its bodies, including security forces, police, judiciary, etc. Conversely, justice is
a more abstract concept based on the idea of equality of rights, and fairness. All laws should be
based on the idea of justice and should be implemented and enforced in a just way without
discrimination of sex, gender, age, color, race, religion, language or any other status.