POLITICAL SCIENCE

ASSIGNMENT

LAW AND MORALITY

Submitted by
Ranjeet Mathew Jacob
BA LLB IInd Year
Div-‘D’ Roll No. 38
PRN 09010123038

INTRODUCTION
Law and morality are concerned with social order, and their development involves social
processes. Many laws are formalizations of moral values—most obviously laws against killing,
adultery and false witness, for example. Morality has a wider scope than the law: actions
regarded as immoral are not necessarily illegal.

Early in human history, morality was probably concerned only with issues of fairly direct
relevance to individual survival and reproduction. As societies became more complex its scope
became wider. The same is probably true of law, which became necessary through the need for
formalization and for stronger means to control severe infringements. Thus, the range of actions
that can be regarded as moral/immoral is broader than those considered as legal/illegal.
Occasionally, both the law and morality are concerned with behaviour that lies at the extremity
of behaviour that is otherwise condoned or normal, such as marital rape. Law has been shaped by
moral values, and laws that do not have some reference to social values are seldom viable.

Law and morality are like day and night. One cannot exist without other, but are also totally
different entities too. To understand law and morality it would be better if we look into the
differences and relation between them
DIFFERENCES IN LAW AND MORALITY
There exists much difference in the law and morality. It differs not only its subject matter but
also in its application and enforcement. The main differences are being discussed under the
following heads:-
a. Scope And Content

Law and morality differ in the scope of application and content to which applies. Law
affects only a part of man’s life. Law is a tool used by the state to control the external acts
of man which can be brought under the purview of legislation. Law cannot keep a check
on motives, conscience and other emotional and mental factors. Unlike law, morality, on
the other hand, concerns itself with the man in his entirety. It deals with all his actions,
thoughts, motive and conscience too. Therefore morality keeps a check on the man’s
thinking and deciding process. It is due to this very fact that acts that are against morality
may not be considered as a illegal act. Law more over declares certain acts to be illegal
and it is due this fact that these acts are considered illegal. Morality, on the other hand,
doesn’t declare what is right and wrong. All the actions done are decided in accordance to
the moral values that prevails in the society at a particular point of time.

Therefore it is clear that law and morality differ in its scope and content of application in
the society.
 b. Sanction

Law and morality differ in its enforcement nature too. Law is a tool wield by the state. It
is therefore enforced by the state. Crime in general is considered as a wrong against the
society and the state take charge of enforcing the law and punishing the accused and
protecting the interest of the public. Moreover, law is enforced by means of force. An act
of breaking law might be punished with a fine or imprisonment. State uses force to
enforce the sanction on the wrong doer.

On the other hand, morality is not enforced by the state. It is usually the enforced by
individuals alone. Morality is all based on conscience. Conscience is a matter of personal
and individuals thinking. The ethical appeal is always to individual’s own sense to what
is right or wrong. It is, therefore, a matter of personal views and moral values. It is not
sanctioned by way of force like in law. Moral conscience is the tool that morality uses to
enforce its decisions.

c. Precision and Clarity

Law and morality differs in its precision and clarity. Law is precise and certain. There is
no vagueness or ambiguity surrounding it. It is same for everybody and consists of
uniform rules of action. It is clearly laid down in form of statutes and regulations. There
is only one body of rules applicable to all persons in identical circumstances. It is,
therefore, objective in nature and not subjective.

Morality, on the other hand, is not precise and is ambiguous in nature. It is very much
subjective, since conscience is matter of individual. It may differ from man to man and is
a matter of opinion of men that exists at a period of time. Since it differs from man to
man, it is clear that there exists no uniformity in its application.

CO-RELATION BETWEEN LAW AND MORALITY

As mentioned before, law and morality are like day and night. They are separate entities in
themselves, but they cannot exist without each other. Therefore it is inevitable to discuss the
difference without the co-relation among these two very much interlinked concepts. The affinity
between these concepts is discussed in the following heads:-
a. Identical in origin

In primitive society, law and morality were hardly distinguished. In ancient India, the
word ‘dharma’ meant both law and morality. The Greek thinkers Plato and Aristotle
identified both moral values with political values. In short, law and morality were
identical, both arising from habit and experience of the primitive social life. It was the
beginning of the concept of state that law and morality got different character.

b. Common objective to be achieved

Law and morality have common objectives/goals to achieve. Law, as a uniform rule of
action, establishes a common measure of conduct for all. Morality through its universal
appeal ensures that good law are followed and enforced. Moreover, law cannot afford to
ignore altogether the moral ideas of the people. Laws, which are not in conformity with
the prevailing standards, will be difficult to enforce. Laws are used to change the
prevailing ethical standards of society. Laws like prevention of sati; dowry prohibition
etc. changed the prevailing moral standards of the society. Also morality is sometimes
used as a reason to bring about the change and reforms in the legal system and
legislations.

Thus law and morality will go in hand-in-hand since both these concept cannot exist without the
other. To see this aspect, we shall see a legislation which proves the same very point. The
Juvenile Justice Act,2000 is a legislation which is trying to enforce law and through the
enforcement try to bring about the enforcement or betterment of the standards of morality of the
society. Juvenile Justice Act ensures that the children who has gone out of the stream of the
society is guided back to the mainstream and grows up to be a responsible and productive citizen
of the society. It ensures that the needy children be taken care by the state. This piece of
legislation also speaks of establishment of special homes and corrective houses and rehabilitation
for those children who indulge in criminal acts. This piece of legislation is aimed to bring about a
improvement in the personal perception of ethics and morality of those children who have
indulged in criminal acts and have misinterpreted the moral values and conscience.