Negative Consequentialism In Canadian Law

The fluidity of law as a whole has allowed Canadian law to develop at the same rate that society changes. Some moral standards in Canada have changed, and that is directly reflected in Canadian law; moreover, gay marriage would not have been legal fifty years ago, but was legalized once society had a different view on the matter. Likewise, the morality of robbery has not changed and neither has the law. Many of the laws and values in Canadian law can be directly reflected from the Ten Commandments. The foundation of Canadian Law is derived from a modern view of the Ten Commandments with a negative consequentialist foundation.

Mosaic Law adheres to the Ten Commandments, which is a religious text still used and recognized in Christian, Islam, …show more content…
The base purpose of Canadian law is to protect the rights, freedoms, and safety of all Canadians. This foundation can be translated into a negative consequentialist doctrine of ethics. The idea of consequentialism is that the morality of the action is dependent on the outcome or consequence of the action. Negative consequentialism, however, focuses on minimising bad or harmful consequences rather than encouraging good consequences. This is law in its purest form. Law is essentially a set of rules created to control the citizens and prevent them from doing harmful things; comparatively, law does not include a reward system for citizen’s good behavior.

Canadian law comes from diverse range of influences. These influences have altered both the structure and moral foundation of Canadian law. A religious text that is controversial to many, has made an impact on Canadian law, in a where nearly 24% of the population is non-religious. This has worked to manufacture the ethical foundation of Canadian law; negative consequentialism is minimising the possibility of a bad outcome, which is directly adapted into Canadian