Business Ethics

As long as its legal it’s Ethical

Legal= appointed, established, authorised by law.

Ethical = adjectival reference pertaining to or dealing with morals or the principles of morality; pertaining to right and wrong in conduct.

Reworded moot “As long as its authorised by law it is moral.”

Traditionally the word was one centred on religious principles and ethics was the measuring rod by which one’s behaviour was regulated. In this 21st century however, there has been a great increase in rationalization. The world evidently is trying to distance law from ethical principles. This however is a difficult task, morality is the foundation that legal principles were built on and to try to distance the two is a daunting task.

“Legal” acts are more and more becoming more unethical and therefore we disagree with the statement “as long as it is authorised by law it is moral”.

Not because it wears the robe of law means it is moral and by extension law. These “law’ are struck down regularly because they are shrouded in unethical principles. The Jamaica constitution is the foundation on which any law in Jamaica is built, it is the fountain of morality and ethics. Section two of the aforementioned document clearly outlines that any law passed that is inconsistent with this morally guided document shall be declared null and void to the extent of its inconsistency. Therefore laws that are passed that are unethical will struck down. This goes entirely against the concept of a law being ethical because it is authorized by law.

Society over a period of time will change and laws will evolve, however, the guideline that all laws should be measured by is ethics. So one may argue that if it is not ethical then its not legal.

Professionals are expected to behave with a level of respect for each other. The legal profession is guided by The Legal Profession (Canon of Ethics) Act. Similarly there is one for the medical profession.

In the business sector, the ethical watchdog...