crminal

Morality can be roughly described as a set of values common to society, which are normative, specifying the correct course of action in a situation, and the limits of what society considers acceptable. Law can be seen as the state echoing, and seeking to uphold, these values. These descriptions can be seen to be, however, not entirely correct, and the issue of law and morality is undeniably complex. It is this, therefore, that we shall be examining in this essay.
What is the law and what is moral?
One of the major problems which arises when law attempts to take the above approach with regard to morality is the dynamic nature of any moral code. It will consistently change with time, to reflect a change in attitudes, and the law must attempt to stay abreast of the situation. An example of this can be seen in R v R (1991), which changed the law, so that rape within marriage became a crime. Previously, the law had seen this as impossible, since the wife was legally seen as being almost the property of the husband via the marriage agreement. Morally, this view had long been seen as outdated and wrong, yet the law was slow in adapting. This problem can further be seen in the area of embryology, where scientific advances have happened so swiftly that the law has trouble keeping pace with the new moral issues raised by in vitro fertilisation, cloning, stem cell research etc. In R v Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority ex parte Blood (1997), the Court of Appeal forced a change in the law, due to circumstances unforeseen at the time the relevant statue was passed, providing another example of disparagement between the law and contemporary moral views. Emile Durkheim highlighted another problem with law echoing morality when he espoused the problems, in a modern, complex society of finding a moral code which all would agree on. Different groups have different attitudes, and as Jock Young pointed out, these attitudes are value judgements based on what an observer