Comparison between Law and Ethics:

Law Ethics

It is defined as a system that

It is defined as moral guidelines
enforces set of rules and
Definition set, put forth and followed by an
guidelines to govern social
individual towards his society.
behavior.

These are ethic codes that people These are moral codes that
Codes
are required to obey. everyone must conform too.

These are rules stated by the

These are rules of conduct of an
Rules government to balance the
individual.
society.

It comes from within an

Enforce It is enforced on the people.
individual.

It directly states of what is right Here, a person decides to what is

Decision
and what is wrong. right and what is wrong.

It cannot be enforced.

 It is enforced.
 It need not be published.
 It needs to be published.
Characteristics  It may or may not be
 It is consistent.
consistent.
 It needs to be obeyed.
 It is not necessary to obey.

There is valid punishment for There is no punishment for

Punishment
breaking the law. defying one’s ethics.

Law is judged by judicial Ethical behavior is judged by

Judging
standards. moral standards.

These are made by using ethics These come from within a person
Made
as a guiding principal. by his moral values.

Ethics are universal and can be

Laws depend on the country,
Application applied anywhere, all over the
state and the place of the crime.
world.

Ethics and morals relate to “right” and “wrong” conduct. While they are sometimes used interchangeably, they
are different: ethics refer to rules provided by an external source, e.g., codes of conduct in workplaces or
principles in religions. Morals refer to an individual’s own principles regarding right and wrong.
Ethics versus Morals comparison chart

Ethics Morals

What are they? The rules of conduct recognized in respect to Principles or habits with respect to
a particular class of human actions or a right or wrong conduct. While
particular group or culture. morals also prescribe dos and
 Ethics versus Morals comparison chart

Ethics Morals

don'ts, morality is ultimately a

personal compass of right and
wrong.

Where do they Social system - External Individual - Internal

come from?

Why we do it? Because society says it is the right thing to do. Because we believe in something
being right or wrong.

Flexibility Ethics are dependent on others for definition. Usually consistent, although can
They tend to be consistent within a certain change if an individual’s beliefs
context, but can vary between contexts. change.

The "Gray" A person strictly following Ethical Principles
may not have any Morals at all. Likewise, one
could violate Ethical Principles within a given
system of rules in order to maintain Moral
integrity.
A Moral Person although perhaps
bound by a higher covenant, may
choose to follow a code of ethics as
it would apply to a system. "Make it
fit"

Origin Greek word "ethos" meaning"character" Latin word "mos" meaning

"custom"

Acceptability Ethics are governed by professional and legal Morality transcends cultural norms
guidelines within a particular time and place

The difference between law and morality may be put in a tabular form as follows:

Law Morality

1. Concerned with 1. Concerned with both the external acts

external acts of man and internal motives.
and not motives.

2. Is the concern of the 2. Is the concern of conscience.

state.

3. Is concerned with a 3. Is concerned with the whole of man’s life.

part of man’s life.

4. Violation of law is 4. Its violation is not punishable by the state.

punishable by the
state.

5. Force is the sanction 5. Moral conscience is its sanction.

behind laws.
6. Law is definite and 6. Morality is vague and indefinite.
precise.

7. Law is objective. 7. Morality is subjective.

8. Law acts within the 8. Morality is universal.

territory of the state.

9. Law is based on 9. Morality has absolute standards.

expediency.

10. A legal wrong may 10. A moral wrong may be legally right.
be morally right.

11. There is a definite 11. There is no definite agency to enforce

agency to enforce morality.
law.