Advantages and Disadvantages of Law

        Law is not static but Dynamic Concept. Law changes from time to time and from country to country. Law must change with the changes in the society. There are advantages and some disadvantages of law. Advantages and disadvantages of law are as follows...

I) Advantages of Law -

1) Uniformity and Certainty:

                           Law provides Uniformity and certainty to the administration of justice.  The same law has to be applied in all cases. There can be no distinction between one case and another case if the facts are the same.


2) Protection against arbitrary, biased and dishonest decisions:

         If the administration of Justice is left completely to the individual discretion of a judge, improper motives and dishonest opinions could affect the distribution of justice. Law as Fixed Principles of the law of justice avoids the danger of arbitrary, biased and dishonest decisions.


3) Freedom from errors of individual judgement:


                 The fixed principles of law protect the administration of justice from the errors of individual judgement. Commenting on this aspect of law, the Greek Philosopher Aristotle observed that "to seek to be wiser than the law is the very thing which is by good laws forbidden."  This, in other words, means that "law is not always necessarily wise but on the whole and in the long run it is wiser than those who administer it".

 4) Reliability :

             There is another advantage of law is its reliability. It is more reliable than the individual judgements of the Courts. The human mind is fallible and judges are no exception. The wisdom of the legislature which represents the wisdom of the people is safer and more reliable means of protection than the momentary fancy of the individual judge.

 

II) Disadvantages of Law:

      Law has not only advantages but some disadvantages also, Disadvantages of law are as follows:


1) The rigidity of law: 

            An Ideal legal system keeps on changing according to the changing needs of the people. But because of the rigidity of law, it is unable to keep pace with the fast-changing society. There is always a gap between the advancement of society and the legal system prevailing in it. The lack of flexibility in law results in hardship and injustice to the people.


2) Conservative Nature:


           Another disadvantage of law is that its Conservative Nature. Law is conservative in its approach. The Bar and Bench are generally conservative in their approach to the dispensation of justice. The result is is that very often the law is static. This is not conducive to a progressive society.


3) Formalism :

            The Law suffers from excessive formalism greater emphasis laid on the form of law rather than its substance. Undue formalism causes unnecessary delay in dispensation of justice.


4) Complexity :

       Another disadvantage of law is its Complexity. It is true that every law effort is made to make law as simple as possible but it is not possible to make every law simple. That is due to the Complex nature of modern society.

       Commenting on the advantages and disadvantages of law Salmond observed that if the benefits of the law are great, the evils too are not small. Be that it may, it cannot be denied law serves as an effective instrument of social change. Law must change to the changing condition.