How are Ethics and Law related?
In some cultures, the rule of law considers all citizens as equal. These systems are usually Democratic and usually promotes the individual's right to the pursuit of health and happiness.
In other cultures, the rule of law does not apply equally to all citizens. These systems are usually Autocratic, Communistic or Totalitarian. No amount of rational thought will help the individual in the pursuit of happiness. The anointed leaders in these systems have forcefully subordinated the individual's life for the sake of the state.
In 1215 the English 'Magna Carta' established rules of law that declared all citizens (including those in power), should be fairly and equally ruled by that law. This remains true in most democratic countries today.
A law that does not apply to all citizens, is simply a license for one group to control another group.
The law should not refuse or delay the right to justice for any individual.
Speedy justice should be available to everyone no matter their status.
When an individual's work and livelihood are threatened by bureaucratic mandates, fear and anarchy become the basic responses.
When there is no way of knowing what law will suddenly become an offense, fear and cynicism become the basic responses.
Innovative thinkers will not submit to bureaucratic edicts. Moral values like integrity and honesty do not function at the point of a bureaucrat's gun.
©Australia's Magna Carta Institute