Law & Ethics

The Purpose of Law

O Justice
O Codify morality
O Create a more efficient society
O Law as a regulator
O Expression of the will of the sovereign
 Positivist
O Clear distinction between what is and what
ought to be
O Law should be looked at as separate from
morality
O Command of a sovereign – a ruler of an
elected parliament
 Natural Law Theory
O Law & morality cannot be separated
O Law must be fundamental and immutable
moral principles
O We obey law because we do not want to be
punished
O We obey law because we think it is the right
thing to do in the society we live in
Specific Purposes of Law
O Definition
O A set of rules of general application that
govern conduct or situations, that are
enforceable through a recognizable means,
and that bind members of a society
O Law put in place for the purpose of society
efficiency
O Why do we drive on the right side of the road?
 Law functions
O To regulate the behaviour of societal actors
O Address societal questions
O Four broad types of laws:
O Criminal laws; which punish
O Civil laws, which compensate
O Regulatory laws, which regulate in accordance
with governmental policy; and
O Constitutional laws, which structure
 Criminal Laws
O Most moral of laws in that they relate to
fundamental right & wrong
O Found in government made statute called
Criminal Code
O Penal
O Punish usually via imprisonment
 Civil Laws
O Govern relationships between private actors in
society
O Provide a solution when there is a breakdown
in the relationships
O One party is harmed by another and seek
compensation
O English Canada – judge made common law
O Created out of need for judges to resolve
dispute
 Regulatory Law
O Created by governments and their delegated
agents
O Impose a procedure of how activities should
be carried out
O Penalties are civil in nature
O The loss of a license or the right to engage in
activities
 Constitutional Laws
O Laws created by countries to govern their
governors
O The Constitutional Act sets out the structure
for our federal government, provincial
government and the superior courts in each
province
Legal & Moral Obligations
O Amoral
O Immoral
O Letter of the law
O Different legal standards
O Application of law
 Hard Cases
O Situations where two or more laws could
apply in different ways
O Situations where a law applies broadly, but its
specific application in a given case is
uncertain
O Situation where dispute has arisen for which
no law has (yet) been written, passed or
created
O “Stolen an idea”