Discuss about the Justice for Moral Duty to Obey the Law.
Law is set of rules which are given by relevant authority for the purpose of preserving the law, order and harmony. It is a moral duty of people to obey law. The people are required to obey law on the primary basis not because of the fear of punishment. The people should obey the law because they should believe in valuing the legitimate authority. The law should be obeyed because this is just to do so. The compliance is essential so it is necessary to understand the mechanism by which law affects the behaviour.
People have key obligation to follow the rule. There are various types of obligations which can be described as moral tie by which citizens are expected to do or avoid doing something. The following rules and orders have moral foundation. The obligation to follow the rule may be classified as the perfect obligation and the imperfect obligation. In this essay, the obligation to follow the law is explained and critically examined.
It is moral obligation of citizens to obey the rule. The law is written from the social ethical codes (Austin, 2012). It can express the ethics and morality. There is opinion that it is legal obligation to obey the law. One should always obey the law no matter what. The reason is that law is the law. It should always be followed by people. Naïve. As per the legal opinion of supporters, it is a prima facie legal opinion to follow the law because law is called law. It should be necessarily followed except in some circumstance. There are some circumstances in which law is not required to be obeyed. No law or judiciary system binds the people to follow the rules and law by the way of obedience.
When the morality and ethics are reflected by the law and it secures the people from pain for example warning against the murder, it is argued by the practical theorists that following the law and rule is common moral duty. There are some conditions where morality surpasses the law. The utilitarian philosophy which is given by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill may be useful in the situation where the violation of the law can be ethically acceptable if the consequences are preference for many peoples. It means rules, regulations and law can be breached if it is for the advantage of the many people (Beatty, 2012).
As per the teleological theory and deontological theory, the law against the murder, theft and driving drunk is required to be followed ethically. The deontologists like Kant stated that the following law is natural ethical act. The tax evasion is not ethical because it does not considered legal but it is argued by John Stuart Mill that tax evasion is no moral irrespective of short term benefits. The tax evasion may lead to action against tax payer. It can be painful condition.
The person has not legal but the ethical responsibility to follow the just laws. The people should not disobey the unjust laws, rules and the regulations. The modern laws are made to define the general will. The purpose of this will is focus on the common good. It means the rules, regulations and laws secure the rights of the members of the society as per the principle of the fair and just (Benthm, 2017).
Some unjust laws may be come into effect because of the limitation of the time. The isolation law in Alabama was not just (Beran and Zell, 2017). It was politically, financially and sociologically not just. At the initial stage of the implantation of the isolation law, many people realised the injustice in it. The unjust law is not considered as law at all. The following the unjust law may harm the rights of the citizens. The peaceful and fearless society cannot make on the basis of the unjust laws, rules and regulations. It is required by the citizens to not to follow the unjust law. The legal system depends upon the honesty, loyalty and involvement of the citizens in respect of role of judges or magistrates, witness and legislations regarding the will of the citizens. It depends on the interests so law can be just in the best possible manner. The modern law protects the individuals in the society.
Many ancient laws were made to secure the rights of the upper class people such as kings and the pop. It is difficult to exclude the chances of modern law being unjust. Sometimes Injustice cannot avoid and it is not so easy for the legislature to consider the every situation and its outcome into the consideration. On the other hand different people have different religions, different financial status, different standard and different opinion. The justice is based upon the diversity concept (Denny, 2017). The implementation of the laws, rules and regulations is very controversial issue. The people should not obey the unjust and the unfair laws. But it is not practical to disobey the laws, rules and regulations on the basis of their personal just or unjust evaluation. At the time of disobeying the law, the people should have accurate and high object in respect of the will of mass. The people are not required to break the rules for their own convenience. They should attack on the unfair and unjust law on their own risk for developing and maintaining the fearless society. It is duty of people to respect the laws, rules and the regulations (Finnis, 2015).
The laws and commands are generally more important. For an example, it is essential to follow the traffic rules, traffic signs. The traffic rules are required to be followed to save the life and preserve the property. The traffic law defines the predictable behaviour of the driver. It defines the rule to stop at sign and drive on the right side of the road. If the expected behaviour is ignored by the driver then the travel becomes difficult. It traffic rules are not followed, then fine is imposed on that person as per the rules. The legal rules and regulations impose an ethical duty on the citizens. For example, when someone steals then that person will be sanctioned by the legal system. The object of criminal law is to develop and maintain the systematic and organised society (Ganc, 2012). This object can be achieved if people are allowed to anything that are required by them without consider the right of others in the community. The crime violates the social control. The criminal law is required to deal with people who are determined to interrupt the society working and to stop the wrongdoing and misbehaviour (Greenawalt, 2017).
Law is not complete. Law can be amended on the requirements of the society. Obeying the laws, rules and regulations is an important step to secure the social values and administrate the human activities. In the complex society, the law is not required if no one did the right thing and connected with other well. The law defines what can do or cannot do. Law is very significant for the society to be non-violent (Hardimon, 2012). Law is created to introduce the justice, peace, loyalty, trust and equality. The law is made by the persons so it is all up to people to obey the law or not obey the law. It gives the security to the victims. There are provisions in law to give punishment to the offenders. It means if people disobey the law then they have to be face many difficulties (Hart, 2016).
In absence of the legal system, law, rules and regulations, the society cannot be imagined to live in. There would be no control over the people in absence of the legal system (Hayek, 2014). In this situation people will take decision on the basis of their own principle. They will do crime like murder, rape, steal and encroach on their desire. The people will do what they want to do. People will take revenge from others. The society will become full of crime and prohibited actions. Even in the absence of the rules, the problem of unused disposal will be raised. The diseases will be increased. The problem of supply of water could also be raised in absence of the rules because there will be no cleaning of the water. The people will live as per their own way. The society will be convert into the war area. It shows the importance of law, legal system, rules and regulations. From the legal system, respect can give to the human rights. People cannot work effectively when no law. The law should be followed for the safety of the future generations.
Failing to follow the law and rules makes people lack amend in the incident where they had done wrong things. For the security from rules, regulations and laws, the person living in society should always be ready to sacrifice a small amount of their independence and freedom to involve in which people wish for at given period. It is very essential in case where activities of the people inhibit with the rights of the others (Hobbes, 2017).
Many sociologists have raise the question that why people should obey the law. The law has impact in the people’s daily life. The people should follow the rules and law for the better life. The people should obey the law for the three main reasons. The first reason for obeying the law is to avoid the legal consequences and the sanctions. This is because people have some respect for the relevant authority and it should be done ethically (Horton, 2015).
The main reason to obey the rules and law is that people do not want to face the consequences by breaking the rules. The people obey all the rules and law even though it will not harm others to break them. It is considered as financial explanation or instrumental explanation (Hume, 2018). For the example, the jay walking does not harm to others still the people do not prefer to jay walk. The reason is that jay waking is not considered legal. The people do not want to get penalised. The other example is that if someone follows the stop sign and no car is there. The person still stops there and looks around before passing the road. The reason is that person thinks that car of police may pull out behind the bush. It means that people follow the rules not because of importance of law and rules. It is because the people do not want to face the consequences from disobeying the law (Jackson and Palmer, 2018).
The second major reason is that people have respect for the authority. It is based on the theory of the gratitude. Many things are supplied by the governing officers for the better and easier life. These things are free health services, free medicines, free education and security. The government thinks for the people (Robert, 2018). The government wants that all the facilities should be given to the society. The people should be free from the problems. In return it is required by the government the people should obey the laws, rules and the regulations. Most laws are made to give protection to the society. It is expected by the government that society should follow the determined rules, regulations and laws. If in return society cannot follow the laws then how it can be expected from the government or relevant authorities that they will fulfil the promises made to the citizens. It means if people break the rules and do not respect the government or the relevant authorities then government also will not think about the society and its development (Joseph and Hells, 2017).
The third reason of obeying the law by people is that people thinks that disobey of law is against the moral value and ethics. When the rules, regulations and laws are broken by the citizens irrespective of minor fault or major fault, they feel differences between them because it is not good to do this. For an example, generally common people do not steal the things of the others because they know that it is not good as per moral values and they feel the guilty for the wrongdoing. When people break the law then it is considered immoral and illegal (Kant, 2008).
There are several other reasons to obey the rules, regulations and laws. Some people belong from the family which is the law abiding. The parents and grandparents of the person have respect for the legal system, rules, regulations and laws. Following the laws of state is considered as the tradition of the family. It is not so difficult for them to follow the laws because of law abiding family. It is the main function of the state to protect the rights of the citizens and secure the property of the citizens. The authorities proper take care of the properties and the rights of the citizens. They make all the efforts for the citizens. It will be appropriate to obey the laws, rules and regulations. The fear of punishment is the reason of obeying the law by the people. The people follow the rules because they have fear of being sentenced or the penalised. If anyone chooses to break the law then the state has powers to compel that person to follow the rules, regulations and law (Masson and Shariff, 2016).
The public interest is also one of the reasons to obey the laws. The people obey the laws because they think that laws are made in the interest of the public. They are made for good of every citizen in the state. The people who follow the religions, also follow the rules, regulations and the laws. The reason is that they are learned to obey the laws by the books and novels. For an example, the Christians are educated to follow the every authority of the world. All the articles are required to be followed by the people because all are creation of the god. The loyalty to government or relevant authority is the reason to obey the law. It is considered as well-thing because government thinks lot of for the citizens. The stability can be possible if people follow the rule. When the people of the state follow the particular law, it means no one will take arms to defeat the government and the relevant authorities. These are the reasons for which the people obey the laws (Ray, 2016).
Conclusion
As per the above mentioned analysis, it can be said that the people are required to obey the laws. The laws create the harmony in the society. The society without the restrictions as per the law will be disordered. It is the moral duty of everyone to respect the laws. One should obey the just laws. The people are not required to follow the unjust and unfair laws irrespective of considering the high purpose. In the absence of just and fair law, the crimes such as murder, rape, corruption and steal will be increased in the society.
References
Austin, J. (2012) The jury system. Cambridge: the Cambridge university.
Beatty, R. (2012) Principle of justice and fairness. Australia: The Australia University Press.
Benthm, J. (2017) The law in general. Oxford: Routledge.
Beran, H., and Zell, R. (2017) The consent theory of Australian obligation. Sydney: Hybrid publishers.
Denny, J. (2017) Obligatory relation between government and citizens in Australia. Sydney: Macquarie University.
Finnis, J. (2015) natural law and natural rights. Cambridge: The Cambridge university.
Ganc, C. (2012) The role of law in state. Cambridge: Cambridge university press.
Greenawalt, K. (2017) The conflicts of law and morality. Oxford: Oxford university press.
Hardimon, M. A. (2012) Role obligations. Journal of Philosophy, 91(7), pp. 333-363.
Hart, L. A. (2016) Are there any natural rights. Philosophical review, 64(5), pp. 175-191.
Hayek, F. A. (2014) The constitution of liberty. Chicago: university of Chicago press.
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Horton, H. (2015) Political obligations. Melbourne: the decto press.
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Joseph, R., and Hells, R. (2017) The authority of law. Oxford: Routledge.
Kant. I. (2008) metaphysics of morals. Kant’s political writings, 85(3), pp. 234-245.
Masson, A. and Shariff M. (2016) Legal strategies: How corporations use law to improve performance. Australia: The Australia University Press.
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