5.4.3 Acceptability of the Law

(This is an archived extract from the book Patterns of Power: Edition 2)

The effectiveness of law depends upon its acceptability. Laws are not workable if large numbers of people don’t accept them: large-scale infringement of the law undermines it, both by causing people to lose respect for it and by overloading the enforcement agencies, judiciary and penal system. A policy of inclusivity would therefore need to take account of the acceptability of the whole legal system to everybody in its area of jurisdiction. This depends upon a number of factors:

· The legal system should have legitimacy: people should be able to feel respect for their country’s Constitution (or its equivalent) and the framework of secondary rules which defines how laws are created and amended (5.2.3).

· People should be able to feel that they have had sufficient influence on the negotiation of legislation (5.4.1.2).

· They should be able to feel that the law-enforcement agencies (5.2.5) and courts (5.2.6.1) are impartial, and that judges exercise their discretion with due regard for acceptable principles (5.2.2).

· At a more basic level, people should be able to identify with the law – to feel that its purpose (and the way it is used) is to help and protect them rather than to oppress them. This is the subject of the next three sub-sections:

‒ The law needs to be inclusive (5.4.3.1);

‒ It should avoid conflict with religious law (5.4.3.2);

‒ It needs to adapt to contemporary culture (5.4.3.3).