Over speeding

Over speeding

Ethical issues occur when one has to make a decision concerning his gains or for others. It’s evident that if something or a situation is legal, it automatically be ethical. But this is not always the case. Sometimes they go hand in hand, and at other times they differ entirely. For this case, it is illegal to over speed as there is a set speeding limit. However, most people consider it ethical in cases of emergency. According to the law, if an individual is speeding, he deserves a speeding ticket. Still, most people will disagree in cases of emergency, and the issuing of a ticket may seem to be unethical. How we view these scenarios is based on our own perceptions.

As ethical issues involve making decisions on the response to a situation, they provoke legal judgement between people. Individuals who differ over ethical issues can try to put aside their items or overpower their opponents. Or they can look to expand their understanding and reach an agreement or even compromise through open discussion and rational moral deliberation, investigation and argument. Ethical issues should be different from the pursuit of self-interest, and they should also differ from advocacy. When undertaking a moral point of view, each one is supposed to put aside self-interest and emotional situations that may impair his/her judgement.

Changes should be made in dealing with ethical and illegal issues. This is to ensure fairness in decision making. There should be honesty and integrity. Each decision made whether it is against the law, but ethically right should be honest. It entails sincerity in making a decision. Another issue is fairness; any decision made should not be self-centred; it should accommodate the interest of all. For this case, over speeding violates the traffic laws but ethically strives at saving a life. As much as they may contradict the decisions should be for the interest of all. Another change should be openness in decision making this is to avoid conflicting interests. As an individual or a society, the decision concerning the law should be carried out in an open manner.

When ethical and illegal principles appear to be conflicting, it is essential to make a priority. In any way, choosing one principle over the other doesn’t imply that you despise the other. Under the code of ethics, some duties and responsibilities are given priority over the other. The primary duties must be given priority over others that arise from personal interests. It is essential to act with fairness, honesty, and in good faith for the common good. MacMillan (2014) developed a framework for solving dilemmas associated with ethical and illegal conflicts. He came up with ten steps that make decision making efficient and practical. They include;

Establishing facts surrounding the difficulty. This involves a proper examination of all cases at hand and coming up with events that will guard against misinformation and bias.

Determine your legal obligations and duties. We should be particular about our legal obligations and duties. This will have a major impact on the course of action.

Establish interested participants involved; this involves determining who will be impacted by the course of action.

Determine the ethical value of each participant this helps identify what is truly at stake.

Consider normative ethical theories as an aide to determine a course of action. This is helpful when considering options. It identifies the consequences of actions.

Consider options that would be ethically sound as much as there could be several options to consider; each option could be critically analyzed to determine the extent of harm.

Consideration of possible negative and positive outcome of each potential option this involves the prediction of the likely outcome of the decisions made.

The principal contradiction between what is ethical and illegal is that laws are enacted to carry the authority of a governing body while ethics don’t. Additionally, ethics are based on cultural moral, and this includes the fixed morals of a particular group. Some ethical standards are universal. For instance, murder, theft, assault and arson are both ethical and illegal issues. Laws are drawn from ethics and mandate or prohibit specific behavior. Ethics are the socially accepted behavior.

Societal laws should reflect the ethical standards. This can be explained as laws are founded on the principles of justice, fairness and equity. If the judges don’t comply with the ethical principles, then the rules will not be sufficient to the people, and this will result in disputes. There are many applications of ethics in law. It is obvious to divide the ethical obligations into duties that belong to the client and those that belong to law. Matters of moral responsibility are an inherent part of the legal profession. The laws should also have the confidence of the community. Also, the law represents the people and people have their ethical values, for this reason, the law should serve based on community ethics.

References

Saxena, Pikee, Archana Mishra, and Sonia Malik. “Surrogacy: ethical and legal issues.” Indian journal of community medicine: official publication of Indian Association of Preventive & Social Medicine 37.4 (2012): 211.

Lawton, Alan. “Developing and implementing codes of ethics.” (2015).

Silali, Maurice B., W. Odero, and E. Rogena. “Community Participation Medico-Legal Concepts to Identify Unclaimed or Missing Dead Bodies from Public Mortuaries to Improve Public Health in Western Kenya.” J Health Med Informat 8.260 (2017): 2.