Our Duty to Obey the Law

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“The trial of Socrates: A vehicle to analyse the Jurisprudential question as to why in a Modern Constitutional Democracy the Citizen has the duty to Obey the law”
WHAT IS LAW
Law in my view may be described as a set of rules that are manmade, through the formal legislative frameworks such as the parliament, with the intention of regulating aspects of life of those subject to it.( "Province of Jurisprudence Determined”) It generally governs the social behavior of its subjects and affords rights, but also imposes duties and responsibilities on them with the purpose of creating order and certainty. Along with the aforementioned it generally provides for sanctions when these laws are not obeyed.(China Law review pg.1) What is important to notice is that in a modern constitutional democracy the constituency of law is theoretically decided on by the society, meaning their moral values are bound to influence what they would want to be law. Further laws are regulated by a constitution, or supreme law. In South Africa for instance the Constitution (The constitution of the republic of SA, 1996) is founded on values such as human dignity, equality and freedom. These are not only found in law, but also in morality.

WHAT ARE MORALS
Morals are the intrinsic rules contained within human beings, otherwise called the embodiment of reason (Aquinas) instilled through evolution and social conduct in the world around the possessor.(LAW VS MORALITY PG.231) It is important to note that these intrinsic rules are not created by man, but are found within as a result of internal factors. In agreement with Hart such an internal factor may be the instinct to survive, based on the truism that all humans want to survive. Further external factors such as the h...

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...d and Beyleveld, the view that in order for a law to be valid it must conform to a moral requirement. Further I suggest that only valid laws should be obeyed, with limited exceptions existing. The moral requirement that I will use to validate legal rules is the Essential Moral Requirement (EMR) of laws. (Explain what EMR entails in footnote) I am also presupposing that in a Modern Constitutional Democracy the EMR is present in the legislative frameworks, with the concession that this may not always be the case. From a moral perspective it may be that civil disobedience is the most radical action that can be taken against individual unjust laws without the disobedience itself breaking moral convictions. As a result it may be the citizens last resort to reforming laws without consciously feeling guilty about it, even if sanctions are (footnote civil disobedience).

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