A lawyers dilemma using Natural Law and Utilitarianism moral theories - Essay Example

A Lawyer’s Dilemma: Case Study (College) A Lawyer’s Dilemma: Case Study The Garrow case reveals how the Natural Law is, many a time, in stark contradiction with the state law. Though lawyers Belge and Armani came to know the fact that Garrow had killed three more people, they were held back from revealing the same by their professional ethics. It is very evident that if they were to follow the Natural Law, the lawyers had to reveal the killing of the other three people immediately as they came to know it.

In the Natural Law perspective, the authority of any law or action is justifiable by their reason. In other words, a legal system which cannot be justified by its reason has no power. According to natural law, as defined in encyclopedia Britannica online, humans have the right to make moral judgments, and this is the true law; not the arbitrary power of the state. As Donald (n.d.) states, the proponents of natural law point out that people are naturally capable of knowing what they need to do in order to lead the life that they are physically fitted to live.

Thus, one can undoubtedly say that the lawyers were bound by natural law to disclose the details of the death of his daughter to the person who came to them seeking details. Worsening the situation, they could not reveal the same in the court too as revealing the same was against ‘the letter and spirit of their professional duty’. A look into the case proves that Garrow was taking this contradiction with state law and natural law for granted. This was the reason why he disclosed the whole story to the lawyers and then tried to hide the same in the Court and acted as if he was insane.

In fact, this is a classic example of the situations in which people defeat humanity taking advantage of the deficiency in man-made laws and the contradiction between state law and natural law. Now, a look into the matter from the Utilitarian perspective proves that the lawyers were supposed to do what produces maximum good. When Natural Law calls for doing what is right, Utilitarianism urges to do what produces greatest satisfaction. Thus, utilitarianism in law assesses the desirability of any human conduct by the amount of happiness it generates in society (Utilitarianism, n.d.).

According to the proponent of Utilitarianism, Jeremy Bentham (as cited in Legal Theory Lexicon 008: Utilitariounis, n.d.), the common law was a set of poorly organized collection of outdated and dysfunctional rules; and according to him, the common law shows an immoral disregard of the consequences of legal rules. Indeed, when the lawyers Belge and Armani miserably failed to follow the principles of natural law, they seem to have tried to apply the principles of utilitarianism. In their concept, there were four parties of consideration; the culprit whom they defend, father of the killed girl, their own professional ethics, and the society.

From their point of view, doing justice to the killed girl’s father would gravely affect their own profession, and the culprit. However, this would do good to the victim and the society. On the other hand, by not revealing the same, they did maximum good to the culprit, their own professional ethics, and the society as it was sure that the culprit was already implicated in one murder and would be punished. In this case, the only party that is devoid of any justice is the killed girl’s father.

In fact, utilitarianism calls for doing what products satisfaction for the majority. Thus, in total, it becomes evident that their action was in total contradiction with the natural law, but was, to a great extent, in accordance with the principles of utilitarianism. References Donald, J. A. “Natural Law and Natural Rights”. Retrieved from http://jim.com/rights.html Legal Theory Lexicon 008: Utilitarianism. Retrieved from http://lsolum.typepad.com/legal_theory_lexicon/2003/11/legal_theory_le_4.

html Natural Law. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web 5 June 2011 Utilitarianism. Retrieved from http://law.jrank.org/pages/11052/Utilitarianism.html