Modern Natural Law

Question 1

What is the main difference between classical natural law and modern natural law?

Answer 1

Modern natural law is no longer based on spiritual aspects, it can be applied to understanding contemporary issues. Provides a set of guidelines to create and recognize natural law, less abstract.

Question 2

Characteristics of Modern Natural Law

Answer 2

• significance of morality to law, and the need to base law on moral grounds.
• morality as a real world process.
• provides guidelines to achieve healthy communities, and for UDHR and international criminal courts.
• preserves basic common principles like life, reproduction, learning and living.

Question 3

Lon Fuller

Answer 3

Law making as a craft, law has a unique internal morality that allows it to be identified as legitimate.

Question 4

King Rex’s 8 Failures

Answer 4

1. decisions made on an ad hoc basis
2. fails to inform subjects of the rules that apply to them
3. retroactive legislation
4. rules are not understood by subjects
5. contradictory rules
6. requires subjects to behave in ways that are beyond their capabilities
7. rules are changed frequently
8. no congruence between declared rule and official action

Question 5

8 elements of valid law

Answer 5

1. Generality
2. Promulgation
3. non-retroactivity
4. clarity
5. non-contradiction
6. possibility of compliance
7. consistency
8. congruence between declared rule and official action.

Question 6

Finnis

Answer 6

laws are grounded on a moral substratum, found via intuitive methods. Moral values are self evident requiring no external sources or analysis to reveal them.

Question 7

7 Aspects for Flourishment

Answer 7

1. procreation
2. knowledge
3. leisure
4. art
5. friendship
6. practical reasonableness
7. religion/spirituality

Question 8

Weaknesses of Modern Natural Law

Answer 8

• not as universal as it claims to be
• eight principles can be followed by an anti-democratic, oppressive government
• Finnis is not clear about the intuitive methods that can be used to figure out moral behaviour
• 7 Basic goods may not represent all possible aspects of flourishment
• merging law and moral criteria causes confusion in attempts to understand what law is.

Question 9

Case Study: Legalizing assisted suicide

Answer 9

Carter v Canada (2015) legalized suicide for adults facing enduring and intolerable suffering to legally be able to end their life with doctor’s assistance.

• Court found that section 24(1) and 14 of the criminal code unjustifiably infringed upon section 7 of the Charter
• Bill C-14 passed in june 2016, legalizing physician administered euthanasia and physician assisted euthanasia.
• set strict regulations on access