SOCIOLOGY OF LAW

Sociology and Law are identified with one another. Society is directly related
to Sociology. Every society follows certain laws.
Thus Sociology helps law to better understand society, for smoother
regulation and formation of laws. Norms, customs, traditions all comes under
the law.
Law is like a living organism. Legal system reflects all the energies of
life inside any society. Society shapes legislative issues, financial matters and
fills in as a middle person of relations between individuals.
Society will turn into a jungle without the law. To keep the general
public peaceful, we have to make connection among law and society. Thus law
is conceived as an essential mechanism of social control .Certain rules and
regulations keep humans on track.
Law is made and implemented by the society itself or by elected
governments. Law appears in several forms such as treaties, Acts, constitutional
provisions, rights, and duties. Noncompliance of laws brings punishment.
From the formation to the execution and its impact on society -
everything comes under the umbrella of Sociology.
The sociology of law became clearly established as an academic field of
learning and empirical research after the Second World War. Sociologist
Talcott Parsons in his work stated that law is the essential part of social
control. The functions of the sociology of law:
1. The sociology of law aims on studying the working of law.
2. It is to provide expert advice for social engineering;
3. The sociology of law makes an attempt to shape its studies so as to make
law useful for practical applications;
4. The sociology of law struggles with reality and keeping peace.
Law is a powerful medium or organization, instrumental in realizing social
change in the nation or in any locale specifically.
Every social institution such as family, polity, crime, corporation and
also individuals - all these require and comprise of different laws. Rules have to
be changed according to the roles of the society. As Law reflects the society.
Hence, in simple words Law is an essential element of Society and Society
works smoothly with the law. Both go hand in hand.

FEW EXAMPLES
 Well established panchayat framework, the removal of the practice of
untouchability, Child marriage, and sati and so on are regular presentation of
social change being realized in the nation through law.
 Contract law controls everything from purchasing a transport ticket to
exchanging on subsidiaries markets.
 Property law characterizes rights and obligations connection with the
exchange and title of property.
 Trust law applies to resources held for venture and security.
 Tort law permits claims for damages if an individual's rights or property are
hurt.
 If someone cheats you for money, it means that person has violated a rule,
and you have the right to seek justice under the law.

Thus, law is a sociology portrayed by development and adjustment. Laws

(Guidelines or Rules) are neither made nor connected in a vacuum; they are
made and utilized consistently for a reason.
Law is intended to move human in a certain direction that we assume is
good, or prohibit movement in direction that we believe is bad. That is to
condemn a particular sort of activity because the vast majority of general public
see it as indecent.

Sociological Jurisprudence and Sociology of Law – DISTINGUISHED

It is difficult to draw a hard and fast line of demarcation between the two
because of their identical subject matter. But they do differ in respect of their
theme and approach to law.
 SOCIOLOGICAL JURISPRUDENCE is a functional study of law. It is
applied to concrete social problems, in order to make law an effective
instrument of social control.
 That is for harmonizing the conflicting interest of individuals in the
society.
 In this sense law, has a wider connotation and includes judicial decisions
and administrative processes used for reconciling the competing interests of
the people.

 SOCIOLOGY OF LAW, on the other hand, is a descriptive study of law

and legal institutions of a given society.
 Sociology of law is just a branch of sociology. It is a distinct science.
 It treats law as just one of the several aspects of society and therefore has a
secondary position as compared to society which is the main theme of
sociology.
 Sociology of law is a theoretical science which consists of generation
regarding social phenomenon, so far as they refer to contents, purposes,
application and effects of legal rules.
IN INDIA
Sociology of Law as a research area in the Indian context is small, but is
developing at a very fast pace.
In the Indian context, it is a new interdisciplinary area that has emerged
within the sociological jurisprudence in the recent past due to scholarly inputs
through various researches and projects.
An attempt has been made to trace the course of development of the field
Sociology of Law in the Indian Context. The research also critically analyses
the loopholes and obstacles appearing in the development path of the field of
Sociology of Law.
Sociology of Law in India can be used to strengthen and play an active role
in studying the development and transformation of Indian society - by focusing
on Law as a safe and effective tool for social engineering and social
management.
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LAW AND MORALITY

Law is a set of rules and boundaries that are established by authorities. These
are do‟s and don‟ts which must be obeyed otherwise punishment is given.
While Morals are beliefs, values and principles for determining what is
right and what is wrong. It is the internal motive of a person. Morality has no
provision of punishments for the wrong acts committed by a person.
They influence each other to a great extent. Laws, to be effective, must
represent the moral ideas of the people. Good laws serve the moral conscience
of the people and maintain such conditions as may encourage the growth of
morality. For example - Laws regarding spread of primary education
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAW AND MORALITY
Law and morality are intimately related to each other. Law and morality, have a
common origin. In fact, morals gave rise to laws. The State put its own
sanction behind moral rules and enforce them. The ultimate end of a state is
the promotion of general welfare and moral perfection of man. Laws elevate the
moral standard of the people.

In ancient period, there was no law and order; however, people were
scared of moral practices. They knew that if they would commit something
wrong, they will have to repent in the future. Later, during the evolution of the
concept of the law, a few moral principles were incorporated into the law that
was beneficial for the overall society.
Ever since law has been recognized as an effective instrument of social
ordering there has been an on-going debate on its relationship with morality.

Positivists suggest the law should be studied separately. There is no

connection between law and morality. The law is made by the Sovereign that
can be enforced through punishment.
There is a clear difference between the consequences of breaking the law and
breaking the morals. Violation of the law is punishable by corporal punishment.
Moreover, Laws have often overruled moral principles and traditions. For
instance, it is moral to visit temples and perform religious festivals, but under
certain situations, e.g., during a pandemic, temples are closed, and religious
processions are stopped for a limited time by enforcing a government order. In
this case, the people had no other choice than to follow the legal orders of the
government. Hence, under certain conditions, morality takes a backseat, and the
law becomes the master.
However, some thinkers believe strongly that there is a special relationship
between these two concepts, i.e., law and morality.

Bentham said that legislation has the same centre with morals. But there are
many immoral acts such as sexual relationship between two unmarried adults,
hard-heartedness, ingratitude, etc. which are immoral but are not illegal.
Similarly, there may be laws which are not based upon morals and some
of them may be even opposed to morals, e.g. laws on technical matters, traffic
laws, etc.

Law can be a public expression of morality which codifies in a public way the
basic principles of conduct which a society accepts. In that way, it can guide
the educators of the next generation by giving them a clear outline of the values
society wants taught to its children.
For example,
 Abortion cannot be legalized because it would be immoral to end another‟s
life.
 The issue of polygamy has been morally and socially problematic, and the
law is currently being enacted to ban it.
 Stealing is a vicious act that is immoral according to religion. This is a
punishable offense under section 378 of the Indian Penal Code.
 For example, laws framed with a purpose of eliminating such evils and
malpractices as drinking of wine, gambling, theft, dacoity and murder are
moral laws.
 Adopting a discrimination policy based on caste and creed, colour and race,
clans and tribes, communities and classes is almost a sin.

The existence of laws that serve to defend basic values–such as laws against
murder, rape, malicious defamation of character, fraud, bribery, etc. –prove that
the two can work together. The relationship between law and morality has
become increasingly relevant as social liberals advance issues like homosexual
marriage and abortion rights.

A study of the relationship between law and morals can be made from three
angles:
I. Morals as the basis of law:
In the early stages of the society there was no distinction between law and
morals. All the rules originated from the common source.
When state came into being, it picked up those rules which were
important from the society‟s point of view and the observance of which could
be secured by it. The state put its own sanction behind these rules and enforced
them. These rules were called law.
The rules which were meant for some supreme good of the individual (in
the metaphysical sense) and the state could not ensure their observance
continued in their original condition. These rules are known as morals.
For example, to kill a man or to steal, are acts against law and morals both. It is
on this ground that, sometimes, law is said to be minimum ethics.
Recently Supreme Court of India held that in case of conflict of fundamental
rights of two individuals the decision is to be made on the basis of morals.

II. Morals as the test of law:

Several jurists have observed that law must conform to morals. The law which
does not conform to morals must be disobeyed and the government which
makes such law should be overthrown.
This view was supported by the Greeks and the Romans. In Rome, law to
some extent, was made to confirm to „natural law‟ which was based on certain
moral principles. In modern times, such view is not valid and binding.
III. Morals as the end of law:
Morals have often been considered to be the end of law. A number of eminent
jurists have defined law in terms of, „justice‟. They say that the aim of „law‟ is
to secure justice. Justice in its popular sense is very much based upon morals.
According to jurists, law has always a purpose; it is a means to an end,
and this end is the welfare of the society.
If we look at the preamble of our own Constitution, we shall find that the
ends which it endeavours to achieve are the morals; of course, they are the
morals of the modern age.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAW AND MORALITY:

Although law and morality arc interdependent yet they differ from each other in
their content, definiteness and sanction.
1. The first point of difference is that laws are enforced by the state whereas
morality cannot be enforced.
If one disobeys the law or violates the laws, he is liable to be punished by the
state but if one fails to observe morality, he is not liable to be awarded
physical punishment.

2. Morality is concerned with both internal and external affairs of man

whereas law is concerned only with the external affairs of man. Law
punishes only those persons who violate laws by their external actions such
as theft or dacoity or murder or any other physical crime.

3. There are many things which are legal according to law but are
unacceptable to morality. For example feeling greedy, being ungrateful and
not helping the poor, are not against the spirit of law.
4. Similarly, there are many things which are illegal in the eyes of the state but
are acceptable to morality. For example, driving the vehicle fast in the
market.

5. Laws are certain and universal. They are universally applicable to all
citizens whereas the morals varies from society to society.
For example, a large number of people think it is immoral in India to eat
meat and drink wine. But at the same time, there are people abroad who
think it quite moral to eat meat and drink wine.

6. Laws are strict and are followed rigorously by society. It is not a person‟s
choice to follow the law. he has to abide by the law. However, it is a
person‟s choice to follow a moral principle.

7. Law refers to the conduct of a person while dealing with other persons or
the State. But moral principles are applicable to the conduct of a person even
when he/she is alone and not dealing with anyone.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS of the relationship between law and morality

Whatever be the views of the various schools of jurisprudence on the

relationship between law and morality, it is clear that law and morality are
applicable at different levels in practical application.
The law cannot be definitively divided as to when it is morally
detached. This is also because law is evolving as sociology.
 It is clear that whether the law is based on morality or not, it performs the
maximum process for the social progress of reaching the main purpose of the
law.
However, in modern society - society is nurtured by law and law is nurtured
by society. Therefore, morality is more or less relevant to law.
For example, on September 6, 2018, a landmark judgment (Navtej Singh
Johar v. Union of India, Minister of Law and Justice. Supreme court confirmed
the rights of homosexuals, stating that “love is love itself.”
There are religious and moral criticisms in this regard, but the court enforced a
historic legal status for social progress and justice.

The above discussion confirms that the relationship between law and morality is
not clear but is an important aspect of law.
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