The Hart V Devlin Debate

This essay will seek to examine the contention that should the Government introduce a minimum price for alcohol and other measures, such as restricting multi-buy offers in shops and off-licences and promotions in bars, in an effort to reduce the nation’s consumption of alcohol, in particular binge drinking? Of particular interest in this area is the fascinating debate between H.L.A. Hart and Sir Patrick Devlin sparked by the publication of the Wolfenden Report on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution. Their analysis of the desirability of regulating morality is a vital addition to any consideration of this question and will form a large part of my enquiry.

The renowned and much analysed Hart v Devlin debate on the legal enforcement of morality saw its origins in the publication of the Report of the Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution (hereafter referred to as "the Wolfenden Report").

The committee concluded that unless society made desirable attempts to lawfully equate the sphere of crimes in private morality which is separate from law will be exposed. However this did not encourage pubic immorality rather homosexual behaviour between adults who consented should no longer be a criminal offence under Sexual Offences Act 1957. Nonetheless two years later Lord Devlin criticised this report in his book the ‘The Enforcement of Morals’. Professor Hart supported the general proposal of this report and attacked Devlin’s argument.

Devlin wrote and published 'The Enforcement of Morals', in which he argues that morality is part of the fabric of society and that immoral conduct therefore presents a clear threat, the neutralisation of which takes precedence over individual freedom. “Devlin argued that one of the essential elements of a society is a shared morality.”'The maximum individual freedom that is consistent with the integrity of society' should be determined based on the 'intolerance, indignation and disgust' of ordinary people. This viewpoint has been

Bibliography: Devlin, Patrick. The Enforcement of Morals. New York: Oxford University Press, 1968 Harris, J Hart, H.L.A. ‘Law, Liberty, and Morality’ Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1963 Himma - Einar, Kenneth and Bix, Brian, ‘The International Library Of Essays In Law & Legal Theory, Law And Morality’ Meyerson, Denise, ‘Understanding Jurisprudence’ Routledge Cavendish; 2007 Simmonds, E Nigel ‘Central Issues In Jurisprudence’ Sweet & Maxwell; third edition, 2008 Wacks, Raymond, ‘Understanding Jurisprudence’. Oxford University Press, second edition, 2009 Statutes and Statutory Instruments: Report of the Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution, Cmnd 247 (HMSO: London, 1957). [ 1 ]. Report of the Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution, Cmnd 247 (HMSO: London, 1957). [ 2 ]. Devlin, Patrick. The Enforcement of Morals. New York: Oxford University Press, 1968 [ 3 ] [ 4 ]. J. W. Harris, Legal Philosophies. Second edition; Oxford University Press, 2004 [ 5 ] [ 6 ]. Brian Bix, Jurisprudence: Theory and Context. Sweet & Maxwell; sixth edition, 2012, page - 173 [ 7 ]