The Complex Relationship Between Law and Morals
THE COMPLEX RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAW AND MORALS
The law is a set of rules and prinicples enforced by legal sanctions and imposed by the state. Morals involve questions of right and wrong and issues that depnd on conscience and instinct. Immoral behaviour is sometimes sanctioned by society and in somecases sanctioned by the state. There are strong arguments put forward as to why the law should enforce morality whereas others say that it should not. Contemporary issues, especially those that deal with sexual morality and life and death issues, show the complex relationship between the two.
Those that believe in natural law feel that there is a higher morality and that human law should conform to it. Such belivers of higher morality base this belief on religious beliefs, and can be found in religious texts such as the Bible. Others, such as the ancient Greek philosophers, feel that natural should be dealt with rationally through debates and discussions. Positivists such as John Austin like to seperate law and morality, believing that law is a matter of fact and what the law should be is a different issue.
The complex relationship between law and morality can be seen in regards to sexual morality. In the 1950s, homosexuality was a crime, and many back then would have agreed with Lord Delvin that it was a crime "beyond human tolerance". However, from the Wolfenden Report, homosexuality has been increasingly decriminalised. For example, the 2003 Sexual Offences Acts decriminalises non-consensual acts such as incest and rape, but doesn't discriminate between homosexual and heterosexual behavious. However, the case of R v Brown shows that the Hart-Delvin debate is very much alive. Professor Hart would no doubt have supported the defendants whose actions were within the "harm to others" clause of John Stuart Mill. There was no evidence to suggest that the men involved were engaging in non-consensual acts and that their videos were designed for a wider audience.
The law is a set of rules and prinicples enforced by legal sanctions and imposed by the state. Morals involve questions of right and wrong and issues that depnd on conscience and instinct. Immoral behaviour is sometimes sanctioned by society and in somecases sanctioned by the state. There are strong arguments put forward as to why the law should enforce morality whereas others say that it should not. Contemporary issues, especially those that deal with sexual morality and life and death issues, show the complex relationship between the two.
Those that believe in natural law feel that there is a higher morality and that human law should conform to it. Such belivers of higher morality base this belief on religious beliefs, and can be found in religious texts such as the Bible. Others, such as the ancient Greek philosophers, feel that natural should be dealt with rationally through debates and discussions. Positivists such as John Austin like to seperate law and morality, believing that law is a matter of fact and what the law should be is a different issue.
The complex relationship between law and morality can be seen in regards to sexual morality. In the 1950s, homosexuality was a crime, and many back then would have agreed with Lord Delvin that it was a crime "beyond human tolerance". However, from the Wolfenden Report, homosexuality has been increasingly decriminalised. For example, the 2003 Sexual Offences Acts decriminalises non-consensual acts such as incest and rape, but doesn't discriminate between homosexual and heterosexual behavious. However, the case of R v Brown shows that the Hart-Delvin debate is very much alive. Professor Hart would no doubt have supported the defendants whose actions were within the "harm to others" clause of John Stuart Mill. There was no evidence to suggest that the men involved were engaging in non-consensual acts and that their videos were designed for a wider audience.