How should law implement justice in the face of technological advances? This blog post seeks to reconcile natural law and positive law, and to re-examine the role of law in modern society.
The relationship between law and justice is one of the classic problems of jurisprudence. Law is the foundation of the rules and order that govern society, and justice is the ultimate value that law should pursue. It is natural to think of just and moral laws that can be universally accepted by everyone, regardless of time and place. Traditionally, such laws have been discussed as “natural law. Natural law is not artificially enacted, but is an essential thing that exists prior to human experience and is based on divine laws, the order of the universe, or human nature. In particular, reason, that is, the human capacity to distinguish between truth and falsehood, good and evil, is a means of discovering natural law.
In medieval Western theology, natural law was understood as divine law inscribed in human reason, and religious authority was emphasized. Medieval theologians believed that the will of God and human reason should be in harmony. Later, modern natural law thought saw natural law as something that could be verified by reason alone, independent of theology. Grotius (1583-1645), who can be said to have initiated this trend, firmly established the foundation of natural law based on human reason while embracing the traditions of the Middle Ages. He said that the legal norms confirmed by reason and in accordance with human nature are natural law and the will of God, and he argued that this natural law is an essential thing that cannot be changed even by God. Natural law, reached through the right guidance of reason, is a norm that transcends the state and the law.
The period in which Grotius was active was also an era of religious wars. He saw things in this maelstrom, where no law was respected, and thought that if he based himself on natural law, he could establish a norm that everyone, Catholic, Protestant, and non-Christian alike, could accept. Furthermore, he believed that the principles of law thus established could be used to regulate the interests of each country to prevent the ravages of war and to achieve peace and prosperity for all mankind. His ideas led to the publication of his book “Law of War and Peace” in 1625. This book deals with the preconditions for the outbreak of war and the acts that must be observed during war, and as a theoretical basis for this, it lays the foundation for the concept of natural law and, based on this, constructs a legal theory that governs the relationship between states. For this reason, Grotius is also called the father of international law.
The law of reason, which is independent of divine authority, has human rights at its core, and this has become the main ideological background of modern society. For example, the influence of natural law can be seen in the American Declaration of Independence in 1776. In addition, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man during the French Revolution proclaimed the rights to freedom, property, survival, and resistance as inviolable natural rights. As such, the idea of natural law provided an important foundation for the establishment of a modern legal system, especially in terms of the values of liberty and equality, which are closely linked to law.
In the 19th century, however, natural law theory began to decline as it was criticized for its difficulty in clearly establishing natural law in reality. At that time, a newly emerging theory at the forefront of the criticism was called “legal positivism”. Legal positivism holds that only positive law, that is, law enacted by the legislature of a state and having real effect, can be recognized as law. According to it, a law enacted by a legislator through a legitimate process becomes absolute law regardless of its content, and since it is based on state authority, the people are obliged to obey it. Empiricism emphasizes the objectivity and certainty of the law and sees it as playing an essential role in maintaining social order.
However, in modern times, when we experienced a devastating world war caused by totalitarianism under the guise of legality, the discussion of natural law experienced a revival. After World War II, international trials such as the Nuremberg Trials emphasized the natural law approach and pointed out the limitations of positive law. This was part of an effort to protect basic human rights and to realize humanitarian values. Today, natural law is still recognized as important in presenting the ideals to which law should aspire. Moreover, in the globalized modern society, various cases are emerging that make us reconsider the relationship between law and justice. New challenges such as environmental issues, human rights issues, and digital rights make us rethink the relationship between the nature of law and justice. This becomes even more important in the process of the international community working together to create common norms.
Therefore, establishing a harmonious relationship between natural law and positive law remains an important task, and achieving a more just and peaceful society through it will be an important goal of modern jurisprudence. Based on the wisdom of past thinkers, we need to reconstruct and develop the relationship between law and justice today. To this end, legal scholars must continue to explore the nature and function of law through various academic approaches and, on this basis, contribute to the establishment of a better legal system.
In modern society, the relationship between law and justice is not just a theoretical discussion. In fact, legal issues arise in various forms throughout society, and the harmony between law and justice plays an important role in the process of seeking solutions to these issues. For example, recent technological advances are creating new legal challenges. Advances in artificial intelligence, big data, and biotechnology are creating new problems that cannot be adequately addressed by the existing legal system. In this situation, it is necessary for lawyers to establish legal principles and norms that can respond to new technological challenges.
In addition, the integration of the global economy and the expansion of international exchanges further highlight the importance of international law. The international community is making various efforts to ensure that the legal systems of different countries operate in harmony with each other. To this end, efforts continue to be made to establish common legal standards in cooperation with international organizations and to resolve legal issues on a global scale through these standards.
Thus, the relationship between law and justice is constantly evolving in response to changes in time and society. Therefore, jurists and lawyers must actively respond to these changes and continue to strive to create a society in which law and justice are in harmony. Such efforts will be the first step towards a more just and peaceful world.
