1.5 Law of morality

Laws

Law refers to the system of rules and regulations, created, and enforced by the administrative authority of a society/country with the intention of regulating human behaviour for the common good.

Laws can come in the form of state constitutions, treaties, Acts, local laws, statutes, executive orders, etc. Overall, they govern what a person should and should not do. Consequently, law enforced by the ruling authority according to the desire of the majority of the people of that particular society regulate the proper maintenance of the orderliness of that society. Moreover, some necessities in lawmaking are;

• The authority of the state
• The authorized institutions that have the right to formulate laws
• These institutions have been given the authority to do so by the state
• Sanctions/ punishments exist for breaking the law
• The sanctions are imposed by those given state authority to do so.

Morality

Morality refers to the social principles that define what is morally right and morally wrong. In brief, it is the ethical code of conduct of a person. The main aspect that defines this right or wrong quality of action under moral terms is the intention of the person committing that particular action. Therefore, morality is concerned with both the external acts and internal motives for that action or occurrence.

Relationship between Law and Morality

• Morality influences the law, providing ethical reasons as to why the immoral actions are considered illegal by the law. Hence, morality stands as the fundamental basis for the ideal set of laws in a country.
• Moreover, morality aims at uplifting the moral standards of the people while the core aim of the law is also the same thing.

Difference between Law and Morality

1. Definition

Law is the system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties. On the other hand, morality is the set of ethical principles that define what is morally right and morally wrong. Thus, this is the main difference between law and morality.

2. Enforcement

Law is enforced by the ruling bodies of a country; state or a community while there is no such a significant body to enforce moral codes; however, they are followed by those that are taught by the religious teachings and social ethics. Hence, this is a difference between law and morality.

3. Constitution

Moreover, another difference between law and morality is that laws creates the constitution of a country whereas there is no direct connection with the constitution in morality.

4. Emergence

Besides, morality emerged before the ideal set of laws. Therefore, morality influenced the emergence of laws in a community or a country.

5. Sanctions and punishments

Sanctions and punishments is also a major difference between law and morality. There are direct punishments for those who violate the law while there are no such enforced direct punishments for those who do immoral acts.

6. Effect

Law is direct and rough with punishments whereas morality can be followed or not according to the person’s choice. However, it is this quality of law that ensures the morality of people.