Law and order in context

“Law is regarded as a formal mechanism of social control. It creates legal obligations and rights that are enforceable, adjudicates disputes, and settles conflicts in a peaceful and regulated way. There is considerable support for the view that the main aim or purpose of law is to provide a sufficient degree of order so that society can function.

 

The rest of the section explores law as a mechanism of achieving political, economic, public and social order.” [The Open University, (2014, Unit 2]

 

Political order:

Political order of any state is strongly supported, indeed it is reliant, upon law. A state’s constitution provides rules on important processes and systems, for example, the way the country is to be governed; the way a government is to be elected; the way laws are made; and sets out a judicial system to apply and enforce the laws.

 

Economic order:

Law also provides a framework that enables the functioning of the economy. It sets out how businesses are created, regulated and operated. It recognises agreements that are legally enforceable (contracts), and specialist rules for different sectors of industry. It also applies rules to prevent exploitation, regulate health and safety, labour et cetera.

 

Public order:

Public order is the socially acceptable behaviour of persons and entities within society, while carrying out ordinary everyday activities.

 

Public order can be threatened by strikes, riots, hate speech, terrorism etc.

 

Public order is maintained in the main by security services like police, and by intelligence service mandated to secure information, and by the CPS and judiciary who assist in enforcing the law.

 

Note: In modern societies there is a belief that balance should exist between public order and the freedom to exercise free speech, express beliefs and to assemble peacefully. The legal limits that is, the balance varies in different societies and cultures, and indeed within different legal systems.

 

Social order:

“Law is a key ingredient in the way society is organised and operates. Society comprises a complex network of institutions, customs, values, and social and economic forces which determine how people interact and live together. Within a society there are considerable differences in individual ability, education and wealth. Some of these are the result of birth; others are due to inequality of opportunity. The question is whether law helps to reinforce the status quo and protect entrenched interests in society, or whether it acts as a force for social mobility. This is a controversial and complex issue. The concept of social justice is concerned with the inequalities of economic wealth in society, and with encouraging social mobility and equality of opportunity.” [The Open University, (2014, Unit 2]

 

Law is an instrument of the government of the day. The elected government will make decisions and policies on education, health care, immigration et cetera. Laws will be created and passed to achieve the objectives of the government. These will be highly regulated by complex legal and administrative frameworks designed to create access to and provision of services. In the main however laws must be fair to everyone and may be challenged if it is unfair. Fairness is determined by the values of society and in the past has resulted in granting of the vote to men over the age of 21 in 1918, then women fully in 1928.

 

“It has become unlawful to discriminate against another person on the grounds of colour, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability and age in their access to education, employment and services.” [The Open University, (2014, Unit 2]

 

Next: law and morality