法則 Ep 7

Whoo~ This is my Law exam essays :D

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Question:
To what extent, if at all, should law be used to enforce morality?

Answer:

It is universally acknowledged that laws are rules and regulations which govern us. They are passed by those who govern us and enforced as such they believe appropriate or suitable. If violated, serious consequences will have to be beared by the violator.

On the other hand, morality is based solely on what the particular individual deems as right and wrong. They are constitutions of the individual's morals and principles. They also differ from person to person. Most importantly, if moral principles are violated, it is unlikely the individual will be arrested.

There are, however, overlaps which occur some of the time. While a few may coincide with each other, others may bring the opposite effect. For example, it is a law that public urination is not allowed. It is also immoral for such an act to be done. In this case, the law and morality coincide with each other. In the event that the law and morality should conflict, however, it would be an example of morality obstructing the average adult from indulging in pornography, whereas there is no written law that prohibits it.

In light of the above statement, it is a constant debate with regards to whether law should be used to enforce morality. In actual fact, there are a few advantages and disadvantages in doing so.

An advantage to incorporating morality into law is that the society would less likely see any sort of misbehaviour or disgraceful actions committed in public. For example, if prostitution were banned, nobody would have to sell their bodies for money.

Another advantage would be that law would be much easier to enforce. For example, any bad actions would be against the law and be put right immediately. Nobody would have dilemmas on whether or not the law says it's wrong because it is against one's morals.

On the other hand, if morality were to be incorporated into law, the law would be very rigid. For one, even the slightest action which goes against one's morality would be thereby declared against the law. If such were to be the case, there would hardly be anyone on the streets.

Secondly, as mentioned above, morality differs from person to person. Therefore, who is to decide whose morals to incorporate into our laws? What is wrong to an individual need not necessarily be wrong to another individual. Ergo, confusion will arise and the stability of the law would be jeopardised.

In a nutshell, there is no doubt that law should be used to enforce morality. However, it should only be done to a certain degree so as to provide some freedom but not so much as to cause any disturbance or imbalance to the society.

Marks: 20/25

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I'll let you in on a secret eh? I thought I did more than very badly for this essay. Yet, I still got 20/25. It really doesn't say much for my Law lecturer.

Another one comin' up :)

CIAO!!

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