Legal principles are based on the rights of citizens and the state expressed in the regulations. Morality is a set of principles that attempt to define what is good and bad behavior. It is especially important to differentiate morality from law, since the discussion of morality and legal is often confused. On the one hand, the two differ, since we believe that some legal acts are immoral and that some laws are unjust.
And even if the law didn't prohibit murder, robbery, and the like, we would probably still consider them wrong. This suggests that the two are not coextensive. On the other hand, the two things are related because the law incorporates many moral precepts. Statutory prohibitions incorporate most of our ordinary moral rules, such as those that prohibit lying, killing, cheating, raping, and stealing.
This suggests that there is some connection between morals and legals. Two of the defining characteristics of moral rights (others will be discussed later) contradict what has just been said about legal rights. First of all, human beings do not create moral rights, nor can we undo those rights. Second, moral rights are not limited to the citizens of a particular nation, at any given time.
Moral rights (for example, our rights to life, liberty, and bodily integrity) are universal and timeless. These discrepancies between the practices of the wealthy and the moral repulsion felt by ordinary citizens are common. The practice seems illegitimate, but it is legal. The opposite phenomenon can also be observed.
A practice may be considered morally legitimate, but in fact it is prohibited. Cannabis use is illegal in most countries, where a significant part of society considers it completely legitimate. Since legitimacy refers to moral beliefs that are not necessarily shared uniformly in a society, social attitudes toward illegal products and services tend to vary considerably between social groups and at different times. Take as an example the history of cocaine, which went from being a medical breakthrough to being a scourge for society in a hundred years.
Discovered in Germany in the late 19th century and used legally as an anesthetic for several decades, it was banned in the mid-20th century for religious and moral reasons, especially in the United States. Currently, UK legislation includes cocaine as a class A drug, whose possession can result in seven years in prison, and its supply and production are punishable by life imprisonment.
