How the Law Addressess the Development of Unlawful Conduct...

This piece of writing will examine how the law addresses the development of ‘unlawful conduct’ in our society as a result of social, political, technological and economical changes. It will discuss, the role of Parliament, the judiciary, ECHR and other institutions in reforming the law, to ensure that it is up to date and efficiently meets the exigencies of our society. We normally relate unlawful conduct to criminal activity whereby individuals engage in theft, drugs and murder. In business we also find criminal activity such as fraud, industrial espionage and tax evasion. Other forms of unlawful conduct are associated with civil disputes, these may occur, when neighbours argue about music being played excessively loud.†¦show more content†¦The complexities of a broad range of business transactions, the private ownership of property by individuals and companies, call for changes in law to counteract any new unlawful activity. These examples show that, for a conduct to be categorised as ‘unlawful’, it is imperative to reflect on how moral considerations, concepts of harm, technological advancements and economic effects, have a bearing on the conduct. Smoking and drinking alcohol are considered immoral and harmful by certain sectors of society, however they cannot be categorised as unlawful. This brings to mind the ‘enforceability of the law’, a number of factors determine the criminalisation of a conduct, public perception, the rights of people and changes in morality. These considerations prompt the following questions: What mechanisms are available to deal with newly developed practices, which may result in unlawful conduct? What entities play an important role in harmonising law and conduct? Parliament introduces many laws in response to new developments, for example, The Human Reproductive Cloning Act 2001, this Act regulated the cloning of human embryos as a result of a breakthrough by US scientists and the impact this development could have on British society. The use of a mobile phone when driving a vehicle was prohibited by the introduction of new laws. The Judiciary also plays