Ethics and Law (Essay Sample)

Law and Ethics
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Introduction
Law and Ethics are inextricably intertwined since they work in tandem to shape order of behavior in our societies (MacFarlane, 2015). Ethics have been the basis for morality and standard professional practices developed over thousands of years as can be evidenced from the biblical Ten Commandments. Ethics influences professional conduct in so many ways especially the legal professions in which lawyers and the justice system have to uphold high level of morality in the course of dispensing justice. Sometimes legal practitioners are caught up in in a conflict of interest. The dilemma is often between how to balance ethics and the legal demands to remain loyal to the courts or to the clients. This paper discusses the role of ethics in shaping the human behavior and the legal system, and looks at some of the legal issues involved. Such issues include affirmative action versus equal opportunity approach to legal affairs, pros and cons of a witness to justify a crime, and finally give a personal perspective of the scenario.
The role of ethics in our society and our legal system
Law and ethics mean the combination of rules of practice that determine the professional code of conduct and general behavior of the legal practitioners. Ethics has much to do with everyday societal well being by ensuring that the normative practices and values are upheld even in the process of pursuing and dispensing justice to individuals (Deswal, 2015). Our society has multifarious activities to which legal profession practices is so much inextricably interlinked. The legal institutions and professionalism in any country in the world dates back to time immemorial of historical accounts on ethics as a way of creating and maintaining peaceful coexistence, harmony and order in the society. Lawyers are therefore agents of peace and order, which are the basis of a successful societal existence. Lawyers give important assistance to the judges in the process of decision making on cases to come up with the most relevant and right conclusions in administering justice.According to Deswal (2015), ethics shapes legal conventions in the sense ethics creates paths and means needed to be applied and followed such as a properly planned set of laws rooted upon social justice wise concepts. These social justice concepts should be inspired by principles of high regard professional behavior and the existence of appropriate generation to oversee fair trial. Ethics also influences law by creating the natural law system, which demands that justice should not only be done but that justice should also seem to have been done. A principle that throws in the question of old saying as to who can be the fairest judge whose heart is like that of a child to signify system transparency. When the principles of morality and transparency are upheld in tandem with the national legal provisions, justice is possible to everyone. The United States Congress for example enacts laws from time to time to control the conduct of the professional attorneys and judges so that they dispense justice according to the set legal provisions with maximum impartiality.
Affirmative action versus equal opportunity
Affirmative action is a process in which one disadvantaged party is favored and granted an opportunity to rectify a past long-standing injustice to stem disparity and to achieve diversity. Equal opportunity on the other hand is; all parties competing for an opportunity irrespective of the disadvantages facing either party (Chen, 2015). A case in point is the pending case at the American Supreme Court involving Fisher v Texas University at Austin in which the university policy to admit more racial color students was being challenged. The case was motivated by misconceptions on racial fear provoked by the diversity affirmative action move. This case may paint a picture giving insight into the real situation of the workplace and institutional racism usually politicized and misunderstood equal opportunity concept. My opinion is that the legal frameworks should be designed in such a way that they give opportunity for transformative justice to the society so that the long held injustices practiced and meted on marginalized groups can be eradicated to give equality to all citizens in every country in the world.  
Justifying periodic update of common law
Societies transform from time to time with the advent of new technological advancement and life styles (Vermuele, 2004). Today there are newer criminal activities with the coming of the internet and mobile phone, which have turned the globe into a single village by networking. Cybercrime is real and other forms of traditional crimes such as human trafficking, money laundering, terrorism, and robbery have shifted to the internet platform. It is therefore important for members of parliament from every country to periodically change and enact laws to keep pace with the changing trend of criminality. Periodic updating of laws give opportunity for the legal justice system of every country reflect its legal procedures to the contemporary issues and situation so that it is easy to address them and still uphold professionalism and ethical morality in dispensing justice. Because constitutions become obsolete quickly, they should be updated to reflect the circumstances and values of the citizens in the particular societies. The changes can either be attained through parliamentary enactments of clauses or they can be wholly overhauled to come up with new constitution , through referenda by citizens to reflect the contemporary scenario and needs of the people. The United States law under Article V spell out the process of constitutional amendments giving a flexible interpretation for judges within the umbrella of constitutional common laws that are interpreted to mean updating of the constitution.
Pros and cons of witness free legal system
There are no laws currently requiring the action of a witness to crim...