Question

distinguish among crimes, torts, and ethics. When might something be legal, but not ethical

Answer 1

A crime can be defined as an misdemeanour or a wrongful deed against the society at large. The state or the federal government labels the deed as a crime. Infringement of criminal law leads to state prosecution, for which a victim's consent is both unnecessary and insufficient. A tort can be defined as a wrongful deed, which results in injures or interferes with other person or his property. A tort results in civil court proceedings, in which the targets or victims of harmful deeds are indemnified for the harm they are suffering from. In case of tort, it is the victim of harm who freely decides whether to bring a tort claim to civil court prceeding or not.

In case of a crime, the person charged with an crime is known as the defendant. If the defendant does not win the case, he or she is compelled to serve a sentence. The defendant is mandated to pay the government a fine and the victim is subjected to possible reparation. In case of a tort, the target of harm is known as the plaintiff, who commences a civil proceeding against the potential wrongdoer, known as the defendant or tortfeasor. A criminal law punishes public wrongs, whereas a tort law punishes private wrongs. A tort law states 'harm' to be mandatory for a remedy, but criminal law does not require harm to be mandatory for a remedy.

Ethics, also termed as moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy, which deals with right and wrong deeds or actions, good and evil, virtue and vice and justice and crime. It can also be said to deal with the subject of human morality. When one's deeds or actions are not ethical, they take the shape of crime and tort.

Something can be legal, but not ethical. For example, 'triple talak' or instant divorce has been practiced by Muslims in India. It is a kind of legal divorce which can be taken by any Muslim man by stating the word 'talaq' or divorce three times in oral, written or electronic form. This kind of legal divorce started being considered to be unethical. So, the Government of India or the Modi government framed a bill called 'The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill' in the year 2017 to make triple talaq, illegal. There was a time when owning slaves was legal in the United States, but many people might consider owning a human being to be unethical. Following the Sharia law, striking a person to death for engaging in adultery has been stated legal by certain Islamic governments. But, it might be considered as unethical by non-islamic governments and non-Muslims.