referencing law essay

referencing law essay

The Importance of Law in Society

1. Introduction

This essay will argue that the law has important functions in society and that it has a vital influence on public policy. The essay will take Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights and apply its functions to the situation of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and how the law has an impact upon their right to family reunion.

Laws provide a sense of justice and a way to resolve disputes. It is possible that some form of justice might exist even without laws, but it would be very basic and likely not very fair. Imagine a situation in which a debt is incurred, and there is no way to force the borrower to repay. In today’s society, the lender can go to court, fight his case, and then the judge will provide a fair solution to the problem based on the laws that exist. Without laws, there would be no court system, and repayment of the debt would be very much a matter of the lender’s guile. Laws allow a way to resolve disputes in a manner that can be very fair and just, even if the process is sometimes long. They provide a way to punish wrongdoers and to protect citizens. In a situation without laws, there can be no crime, as the word itself is defined by laws. The absence of crime is indeed an attractive prospect, but deterrence of wrongdoings falls to vigilante justice, which is often violent and unfair. Citizens in today’s society are likely to take for granted the protection they enjoy and the punishment of wrongdoers, but without laws and law enforcement, these are impossibilities. Finally, laws can provide safeguards against tyranny. A society of any form will have leaders, and history shows us that power often corrupts. Without laws that define the abuse of power and a method to seek justice, rebellions will be the only way to rid ourselves of tyrannical leaders.

The law is an important part of our society for several reasons. A society without laws would be a society without any kind of order. It would be a society in which violent conflicts are settled in no orderly fashion. The only situation with no possible improvement would be that of anarchy. Laws serve several key functions in the life of citizens, and without such functions, the community would be a much more difficult place to live.

2. Role of Law in Society

Law and order, accompanied with a measure of justice, would help to prevent exploitation of the weak, and the citizens can feel secure with a set of guidelines. A society where the rules are followed and the law is respected is a society which, to a large extent, is free of violence and exploitation. This kind of society has a better chance to progress, and the citizens can achieve a peaceful existence. The stability is also essential for any trade or commercial growth. In a situation where the conditions and laws keep changing, there is possibly no chance for growth of any kind of organization or individual. Balance of trade and commercial growth is based on a long-term predictable plan, and law helps in this situation. This can improve the economic situation of a nation, and often it can also prevent unnecessary war. Law thus helps to bring about a result which is for the betterment of society as a whole.

Rules are the laws which help to enforce the cultural or social beliefs of a society, and without these, the society would not function in a proper or efficient manner. Every society has its own cultures and beliefs, and in a modern society, most of these would be bridged through the law. The societies would have to abolish certain traditional beliefs of doing things that do not follow the current norms or acceptable methods. This is often an ideal way to attain a better standard of living, and a law helps to bring about long-term changes to a society.

Laws are important in society for a number of reasons. They will help to maintain and establish stability in society. The stability of the society is based upon the justice which is enforced by the law. Only when there is law and order, there is a possibility for the society to move in a positive direction. The laws will help in the smooth functioning of the communities, citizens, and nations. It is essential to have regulation and enforcement for the rules, and it is necessary to have guidance and standard rules for the people. This is what constitutes a stable order, and the law helps to establish this with regulations.

As it is rightly said, “The law is the glue that holds society together.” Laws are necessary in society as it helps to provide the guidelines required for the citizens to follow. It is also essential since it provides justice to any wrong done and helps to protect the weak. Law is a structure in society which helps it to perform its function in an efficient manner. The laws set a rule for the citizens to follow for successful living and provide justice to every individual. It is not possible to establish absolute law in society, as the ideal conditions to do may not even exist. Yet, as long as humans live together, laws are necessary to regulate relations among them.

3. Benefits of Upholding the Law

The collective conscience theory is more clearly evident in the case of people who commit more serious crimes. Many criminals, upon conviction, feel deep regret for the pain and suffering that they have caused others. This feeling illustrates that even those who have gone against the law have not completely lost their collective conscience, and still consider the laws broken to be the right way for things to have happened. This too can result in an emotional self-punishment, in extreme cases being so deeply felt that it has led to suicide.

This can be backed up in the case of minor traffic offenses. While it is true that most people would not commit offenses such as speeding or illegal parking if there was no chance of them being caught, it is likely that if a car driver was the only person on earth, he would still observe the same traffic laws. This is because traffic laws are based on common sense and safety, and when a person breaks these laws, he realizes that he is endangering himself and others, resulting in a justifiable feeling of guilt.

Firstly, it would be too readily assumed that people only obey the law to avoid punishment, and that they disregard the consequences of their actions as long as their chances of getting caught are slim. This theory is rebutted by Durkheim, who asserted that the primary reason for people obeying the law is that it is a reflection of what he called the collective conscience. Durkheim believed that the law is a precise indicator of the acceptable boundaries of human behavior, and that crossing these boundaries results in a guilty conscience; a feeling that he considered to be a punishment in itself.

We have all once experienced the bittersweet feeling that comes from escaping punishment for a well-deserved crime. Just as powerfully, we have also witnessed the disturbing fact that society is not just in trials, and often innocent individuals are prosecuted for crimes they did not commit. So why do people conform to the law, even when it does not benefit them?

4. Challenges in Enforcing the Law

There are many law enforcers around the world who are put in difficult and challenging situations every day. A significant challenge facing those who are responsible for enforcing the law is that often the laws created by the government are not in the best interest of the general public. Many police officers and law enforcement officials find themselves enforcing laws that are somewhat absurd. For example, a police officer who is told to go out and arrest people for seat-belt violations in order to generate revenue for the city. The time spent arresting people for a minor traffic violation is taking away from the time that could be spent preventing and solving more serious crimes such as robbery and murder. Laws such as the example above put law enforcers in a lose-lose situation because if the officer disobeys the orders of his superiors, he is subject to disciplinary action; likewise, if the officer does carry out the orders and arrests people for a minor traffic violation, the public becomes angered and the criminals of more serious crimes escape consequences. So not only are time and resources wasted, but morale and motivation for law enforcement are diminished. Another excellent example of law enforcement being challenged is in international drug law enforcement. A report by the UK National Audit Office in 2007 stated that despite 20 years of effort to eradicate illegal drug supplies, “overall availability and purity of heroin and cocaine in the UK has increased… the street price of the drugs has fallen while the average purity of street cocaine has risen.” This leads us to believe that the effort to curb drug supply by targeting smugglers and sellers has had little effect and because availability and purity of drugs has increased, this means that it is easier now for drug offenders to avoid prosecution. This increase in drug availability and the inability to punish offenders has created hardened habitual drug offenders who continually slip through the criminal justice system. Because drug addiction is debatably the most costly and problematic crime to society, the failure to punish drug offenders provides a whole new set of implications and challenges for law enforcement.

5. Conclusion

Many things have been discussed about the importance of law in society. Certainly, we now have an understanding of how law is important to us. Law is created to regulate many aspects of our lives. Without law, the community will be in a condition of anarchy. This is because people will feel free to do anything without considering its effect on others. Law binds the members of the community and guides their actions ‘in the right way’. Law is therefore an essential part of building a peaceful and orderly society. It is also a key for a country in regulating the aspects of internal and external relations. By abiding by the law, people are expected to understand the limits of their actions and not overstep the boundaries. In other words, no one would attempt to harm others or do things that could cause negative effects on the community. Law has its own ways to ensure that the community stays in reasonable conditions. This is because the enactment of a law is usually associated with a form of punishment for those who don’t obey it. But that is not something negative because it actually could prevent the occurrence of bad things. With law too, it is possible for a country to resolve conflicts between nations in a peaceful manner. This is due to the presence of international law that could be used as a reference in determining what is right and what is wrong, as well as the consequences that should be accepted for wrongdoings.