Discuss the nature of legal and moral issues. Consider whether the law does and should reflect moral views

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Jan Lewis

Law and morals essay

Discuss the nature of legal and moral issues. Consider whether the law does and should reflect moral views.

        “The law” has been described by Sir John Salmond as “a body of principles recognised and applied by the state in the administration of justice”. Whereas John Austin defined law as a command issued from a sovereign power to an inferior and enforced coercion”.

        Laws apply are compulsory and must be followed by all members of society, for example, the Offences Against the Person Act (1861) applied to and for everyone. Parliament creates laws and the laws are enforced by official bodies, such as the police. Non-compliance with laws can results in punishment, such as imprisonment, fines etc.

        “Morality” is defined by Phill Harris as “s set of beliefs, values, principles and standards of behaviours”. They are subjective, and do not need to be abided by, like laws. They are enforced by social/domestic pressure and can be beliefs such as abortion, only having sex after marriage etc. However, not all people have the same moral beliefs but non-compliance with these can lead to disapproval within society and even exclusion.

        In relation to both law and morals, some laws don’t have any real morality behind them, such as parking on a double yellow line and rules like “keeping off the grass” etc., and some morals are not backed up by law, such as adultery and sex before marriage.

        However, overall there are laws that contains some moral backing such as murder, which is legally and morally wrong – which can also link to religion due to the fact killing is one of the 10 commandments.  Others are theft and burglary, which are morally and legally wrong as well, and again, link to religion as “thou shalt not steal” is one of the 10 commandments as well.

        Judges and Parliament take public morality into consideration when decided or making law. The law reflects the changes or public morality, for example, homosexuality being legalized in 1967, and cases such as RVR (1992) where raping wives became illegal, which both influenced judicial change. Another example if the Sexual Offences Act (1967) and its amendments later on, which reflects legislative change as it shows how the age of consent for homosexuals was gradually reduced to 16 as public morality changed over time. This is also an example of how Law and morality have overlapped and coincided with each other.

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        In addition to this, public morality can also be influenced by changes in the law. For example drink driving laws and the band of using a mobile phone whilst driving have influences public morality. Another example is the case of R V Brown and others (1993) that demonstrated how the law can impose certain moral values. Here, six middle-aged homosexual men were prosecuted for sadomasochistic practice and Lord Templeman stated “society is entitled to protect against cult of violence”. There have also been campaigns to change public morality, which is reflected through law reform, an example being the topic ...

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