EXPLICATING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAW AND MORALITY: PERSPECTIVES FROM CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN JURISPRUDENCE

Abstract

The relationship between law and morality is not only topical but has remained an
ever-living debate with so many questions hitherto still emerging. Nevertheless, the
question as to whether law can frame moral standards and legal order is related
and constitute one of the oldest and most captivating problems in public philosophy
and jurisprudence. The overall aim of this paper is to analyse the relationship
between law and morality with perspectives from contemporary African
jurisprudence. The doctrinal research method is employed in conducting this
research because it concerns with the examination, analysis and discussion of legal
doctrines, legal rules, principles and propositions derived from both primary and
secondary sources. Therefore, the findings of the paper showed that law and
morality are related and that the nature of their relationship is thick and thin, close
and far, in that there are times or intervals of their convergence and divergence,
there are also intervals of their coming together and departure. It is concluded that
law and morality are related and that the nature of their relationship is thin and
thick, close and far. The paper recommended among others, that stakeholders
should utilise moral principles in the construction of constitution or statutes as to
strike a balance in order to make the law legitimate and widely acceptable to the
society it operates.