Law and Morality

Question 1

Define morality

Answer 1

A set of personal or social standards for good or bad behaviour and character.

These values are generally related to beliefs such as religion.

Question 2

Define law according to Twinning and Miers

Answer 2

‘A general norm mandating or guiding conduct.’

Question 3

What is one essential function of criminal law?

Answer 3

To define the boundary between conduct which is criminal and what is merely immoral.

Reference: Lord Hobhouse in Hinks 2002.

Question 4

Compare the enforceability of morality and law

Answer 4

Morality is not binding/enforceable; law is binding and enforceable.

Question 5

How do morality and law develop over time?

Answer 5

Morality develops over time; law is made quickly.

Question 6

What is the nature of the code of conduct in morality and law?

Answer 6

Morality is a voluntary code of conduct; law is compulsory.

Question 7

How are immoral acts informally punished?

Answer 7

Through peer pressure, shame, or guilt.

Question 8

How are illegal acts formally punished?

Answer 8

Through prison or compensation.

Question 9

Give an example of an immoral act that is not illegal

Answer 9

Adultery.

Question 10

Give an example of an illegal act that is not immoral

Answer 10

Parking on yellow lines.

Question 11

Give an example of an act that is both immoral and illegal

Answer 11

Murder.

Question 12

What is legal positivism?

Answer 12

If properly made, the law is the law, whether we like it or not. Preserves Parliamentary Sovereignty.

Question 13

What is natural law?

Answer 13

Man-made laws should conform to the law of God, a higher authority.

Question 14

Who adopted a liberal approach to ‘gay rights’?

Answer 14

Robert Nozick.

Question 15

What did the Wolfenden Report 1957 conclude about homosexuality?

Answer 15

Criminalisation of homosexuality impinged civil rights, leading to the Sexual Offences Act 1967.

Question 16

What is the main issue of the Hart-Devlin debate?

Answer 16

The role of the state in regulating sexual morality.

Question 17

True or False: Hart believed the state should legislate only if harmful to others.

Answer 17

True.

Question 18

True or False: Lord Devlin believed the state has a duty to promote common morality.

Answer 18

True.

Question 19

What case involved the prescribing of contraception to underage children?

Answer 19

Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech AHA 1986.

Question 20

What does the Margin of Appreciation refer to in the context of ECHR?

Answer 20

HCHR defers to the will of individual states in specific circumstances.

Question 21

What was the outcome of R v Brown 1994 regarding morality?

Answer 21

The case raised the importance of protecting morality in law.

Question 22

What is the significance of the term ‘vicarious liability’?

Answer 22

An employer is liable for the wrongs of their employee even if they themselves have not committed a tort.

Question 23

What is one of the eight principles of ‘inner morality of law’ according to Fuller?

Answer 23

Without which there is no legal system.

Question 24

Fill in the blank: The highest law is ‘_______’ or ‘divine’ law from God.

Answer 24

[eternal]

Question 25

What is the 'thin skull rule'?

Answer 25

A defendant is liable for the full extent of a plaintiff's injury, even if it is more severe than what could be expected.

Question 26

What principle is established in Donoghue v Stevenson 1932?

Answer 26

Negligence and Morality.

Question 27

What does the term 'pluralism' indicate in a legal context?

Answer 27

The impossibility of finding a single set of moral values acceptable to all.

Question 28

What was the significance of the case R v Lyons 2011?

Answer 28

It involved human rights and pluralism.

Question 29

What is the relationship between morality and law?

Answer 29

The legal enforcement of moral values.