Law, morality and ethics
Law is intended to, at a fundamental level, reflect and enforce the moral and ethical standards of a civilised society. The first thing that should be understood is the slight difference between morals and ethics.
Morality
Morality deals with that which is regarded as right or wrong. Morality stems from an individual's conscience and from the values of a given society, which might be based on religious tradition or on political principles such as democracy or socialism. Moral conduct would be that which is considered 'right' based on people's consciences and society's shared values. Morality is one way for a community to define appropriate activity.
Ethics
Ethics (from the Ancient Greek word ethikos meaning 'theory of living'), is a type of philosophy which attempts to figure out that right versus wrong in any given situation or scenario. In general terms, ethics are practical moral standards that distinguish right from wrong, and give us a guide to living 'moral' lives. These standards might include duties that we should follow, such as fidelity in marriage, or the consequences of our behaviour on others. The act of embezzling money from a company, for example, is not only a legal wrongdoing against the company but also an action that could result in people losing their jobs. In more specific terms, some of the more difficult ethical questions on which a government might legislate could include issues relating to abortion, euthanasia and animal rights.
In this sense, morality is both a foundation and an ultimate aim of society, and ethics is a practical way of discovering how to implement and preserve moral standards. The concept of 'public morality' is often used to justify the regulation of sexual matters, including pornography, prostitution and homosexuality, as well as issues of dress and nudity. This, however, is a narrower application of the idea of moral standards, and does not involve ethical issues of the same significance as morality in the more general sense.
Moral and ethical issues occur at both a local and a global level, and laws and other legal instruments have been developed at both levels to implement the moral and ethical standards of society. You might think about the ethical decisions you make when you walk down the street; decisions ranging from not harassing other pedestrians, to giving money to a homeless person.
In global terms, an important ethical milestone came with the post-World War II development of the doctrine of 'human rights', which was embodied at first in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and subsequently in many international conventions, treaties and laws. The doctrine of human rights has influenced the development of Australia's legal system - for example, in the adoption of legislation such as the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW).
Law can be seen as a form of 'discourse' that reflects the values and interests of a society. All legal systems are value-laden - although this is sometimes not readily understood either within the legal system or by members of the public in general. The rights and duties set out by the law have their foundation in ethical approaches to decision-making, and are aimed at setting and upholding what are called 'normative standards', by which is meant the type of behaviour deemed acceptable and desirable in society.
The fundamental role of 'values' in the legal system has led to some criticism. The readiness amongst lawyers to view systems of law as rational and neutral has been strongly challenged by legal scholars from feminist and other backgrounds. They argue that any system of law is inextricably bound up with political, economic, historical and cultural contexts. The legal system, in the eyes of some critics, often functions to preserve inequalities in society by upholding them as the desired and natural values society wishes to protect.
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