Law And Morality

Question 1

What is a definition of law?

Answer 1

Oxford dictionary of law states

‘A system of enforceable rules that regulate the conduct of people in society’

Question 2

What is a definition of morality?

Answer 2

Phil Harris states:
A society’s code of morality may be defined as a set of beliefs, values, principles and standards of behaviour, and such codes are found in all social groups’

Question 3

What would a normative description of morality be?

Answer 3

Holds the view that there are certain moral values that exist independently of social convention. E.g.
Do not lie
Treat others as you would like to be treated.

Question 4

What are the formal distinctions between law and morality?

Harts argument summarised by Leslie Green

Answer 4

Law
There are formal legal rules
Law is subject to deliberate change
Some legal rules are unimportant and trivial
Strict liability is possible
If you break the law there are official sanctions

Morality
Moral rules which are not subject to deliberate change
Many moral principles are very important
No strict liability
No formal sanctions

Question 5

What does it mean when questioning whether there is a prima facie obligation to obey the law?

Answer 5

That there is an obligation to obey the law regardless of the content. This is due to the status of legal rules

Question 6

What does Lex iniusta lex non est mean?

Answer 6

An unjust law is no law at all.

Question 7

Name some examples where individuals have refused to obey the law if it was unjust?
ie- the obligation to obey may be outweighed by an individual moral obligation to not behave in a dishonest manner

Answer 7

Civil disobedience on the grounds of religious or moral principles
Martin Luther King- USA
Conscientious objection- WW1
Ghandi colonial India
Nelson Mandela- member of the African National Congress( ANC)

Question 8

What is the difference between civil disobedience and ordinary law breaking?

Answer 8

In civil disobedience, the offender is open about breaking the law in the hope to communicate their objection to that particular law with the state.

Question 9

What was the Rivonia Trial?

Answer 9

Nelson Mandela was put on trial with ten other activists for sabotage. He would have faced the death penalty if convicted.
He gave his justifications for fighting against the state in his opening speech known as the rivonia trial on 20th April 1964.

Question 10

What is natural law?

Answer 10

It considers a higher law distinct from state law which the state should not violate( the law of the state known as positive law)

Question 11

What is teleology?

Answer 11

It is a natural law theory based around the view that the universe has a purpose

Supporters of this were
Aristotle- nature makes the organs to suit the work they have to do, not the work to suit the organ
Cicero- believed that God was the author of natural law and is universally binding. Felt it was a sin to alter, amend or repeal any law.
Mainly Ancient Greek and Roman thinkers

Question 12

What is Christian natural law theory?

Answer 12

Felt the source of the higher law was the will of god.
St Augustine of hippo
St Thomas Aquino- natural law is participation to eternal law

Question 13

What is secular natural law theory?

Answer 13

Natural law that did not rely on divine authorship or a cosmic order.
Grotius-natural law would be the same regardless of god
Locke-it is reasonable for individuals to enter into a contract with the state, accepting the states authority in return for protection of life, liberty and property.
If the state does not protect those elements then an individual has the right to resist the state.

Question 14

What were John Finnis seven basic goods?

Answer 14

Finnis idea was there were certain ways of being that inferred what was right and wrong.
1 life
2 knowledge
3 play
4 aesthetic experience
5 sociability or friendship
6 religion
7 practical reasonableness

Question 15

Which documents can you see the influence of natural law?

Answer 15

American Declaration of Independence 1776
The UDHR 1948
Both have sources as the law of god or human nature.

Question 16

What is positivism?

Answer 16

The want to understand the law as it really is. There is no connection between law and morality. A law does not stop being a law because it fails a moral test. Therefore an immoral law may be a law.
Law is created by humans
Law is social fact/by rules declared by authorities like courts and legislatures. this makes the law certain and everyone understands their rights and duties.

Question 17

Name the legal positivist writers?

Answer 17

Hume- verifiable facts
Bentham-appealing to natural law was no better than basing a decision on private opinion.
Hart- law is law regardless of whether it is just

Question 18

What was the grudge informer case details?

Answer 18

In 1949, woman was prosecuted for the offence of illegally depriving her husband of his freedom under s 239 of the German penal code.
By reporting derogatory remarks about the nazi regime, known as informer statutes. He was sentenced to death but it was not carried out but was sent to fight and survived. She states that she had not committed a crime as she had acted in accordance to the law as it stood at the time.

Question 19

What was the Hart - fuller debate?

Answer 19

Following the grudge case.
The debate questioned if unjust laws are valid laws
Hart felt the woman should not be found guilty as she was following a law regardless of whether it was just. He suggested that a retrospective statute should be passed before punishment given. Highlighting the importance of the rule of law.
Fuller felt the law was immoral and therefore invalid. The validity of a legal system was dependent on the external and internal morality of law.
External- the rules of the legal system must command respect
Internal- morality of law questionable if leader added ad hoc command.
He felt that the courts should see the law as invalid.

Question 20

What was the Hart- Devlin debate about?

Answer 20

It was about whether the law should have a role in enforcing moral views.
Devlin felt the law should impose moral views as society was held together by shared moral bonds that without, society would disintegrate. Only behaviour that would around disgust in an ordinary person should be criminalised.
Hart- no evidence that society depended on shared morality to survive. Enforcing the majority view could persecute the minority.

Question 21

What sparked the Hart - devlin debate?

Answer 21

The Wolfenden report 1957, states that there should be an area of private morality that isn’t the laws business.

Question 22

What is the harm principle?

Answer 22

J S Mills 1859

The law should only limit individual freedom to avoid harming others.

Question 23

What is the current law regarding recreational drugs?

Answer 23

Misuse of Drugs Act 1971

Passed after signing the UN treaty - Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1961. This aimed to restrict the International unauthorised supply of drugs

Question 24

How many categories does the Misuse of Drugs Act 1961 have?

Answer 24

3. Class A,B,C with a being the most severe.
   Class A- crack cocaine, heroin , LSD. 7 years in prison for possession and up to life in prison for supply or production.
   Class B- cannabis, codeine, amphetamines and barbiturates. 5 years imprisonment and 14 years for supply and production.
   Class c- diazepam , anabolic steroids. 2 years imprisonment for possession and up to 14 years for supply and production.

Question 25

What is the difference between illicit and legal drugs?

Answer 25

Illicit are illegal drugs such as heroin and cocaine

Legal drugs are tobacco and alcohol.

Question 26

What are the death rate figures for tobacco, alchohol and drugs in the year?

Answer 26

In 2012, tobacco killed 5 million people a year
alcohol killed 2.5 million a year
Drugs 500, 000 a year.

Question 27

What were Professor Sandels moral arguments in relation to the prohibition of drugs?

Answer 27

1- questions if the law should promote well- being by discouraging individuals from engaging in a harmful or immoral activity
2-counter argument that it is not the laws place to determine a particular way to live.

Question 28

How does the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime( UNODC) define drug trafficking?

Answer 28

The global illicit trade involving the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws.

Question 29

Where is the biggest market for illicit drug consumption?

Answer 29

North America and Western Europe- about 80% of cocaine consumption.

Question 30

Where is the majority of heroin produced?

Answer 30

Asia

Question 31

Where is cocaine mostly produced?

Answer 31

Latin America

Question 32

Which countries have tried to reform the law on drugs?

Answer 32

Netherlands- allows the use of cannabis in coffee shops since 1976 even though it is still illegal.
Uruguay- allows registered users to buy cannabis from chemists and cultivate up to six plants.
Colorado state has regulated the sale of cannabis since 2014.
Portugal- since 2001, have adopted a policy of harm reduction, treatment and decriminalisation of drug users.

Question 33

What is the difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion?

Answer 33

Tax avoidance is legal
Tax evasion usually means illegal avoidance of tax such as falsely reporting transactions which may/ not have happened.

However there is a fine line between the two.

Question 34

In which Act was the general anti avoidance rule (GARR) created?

Answer 34

The Finance Act 2013

Increased HMRC power to deal with abusive tax arrangements.( for the purpose of gaining advantage)
S207 defines abusive if the entering into cannot be regarded as a reasonable course of action.

Question 35

What is humanitarian intervention?

Answer 35

It involves the use of force against a state to protect fundamental human rights
E.g.- Somalia 1992
Kosovo 1999
Sudan 2004

It’s controversial as it violates the international principle that states should not use force on another.

Question 36

What is the difference between humanitarian assistance and intervention?

Answer 36

Humanitarian assistance requires the consent of the state requiring the support.
Using forcing to rescue nationals from another state is assistance not intervention
Peacekeeping operations deployed by UN Security Council are assistance

Question 37

When can force be used against another state?

Answer 37

When a state is acting in self defence
When it is authorised by the UN Security Council as a collective security mechanism.

Anything else will be illegal under international law.

Question 38

Name an example of using force ?

Answer 38

Authorisation of force in Libya 2011. NATO air raids in Libya contributed to the fall of Colonel Gadaffi, who had ruled since 1969.

Question 39

What is the moral dilemma of humanitarian intervention?

Answer 39

Is it morally right to use force against a sovereign state who is unwilling or unable to protect the rights of their citizens even if it is illegal to do so

Question 40

How many members are in the Security Council and who are the permanent members.?

Answer 40

15 member states.
5 permanent/ china, France, Russia, U.K. And USA.
Each gets a Vito meaning they can prevent authorisation of force.

Question 41

Name some examples of failure of international community to intervene?

Answer 41

Rwanda- 1994. 100 day genocide

Kosovo. 500 Dutch in peace keepers could not prevent Serbian forces murdering over 7000 people in Srebrenica.