Is law a restriction on ones liberty?

Question

If law is a restriction on liberty,why then do legislators claim that the law is on our side to give us freedom

Answer 1

yeah, in my opinion and there are too many as well.

Answer 2

It depends on the law.

First of all, there's "mala in se", something that is against the law because it harms other people and restricts their freedom. You don't need a law to tell you that cannibalism is evil, but you do need a law to help protect you from it. That's not a restriction of liberty.

Then there's "mala prohibitum", something that is wrong because it is against the law. Stop signs and speed limits are in this category, and they do restrict your liberty, but the tradeoff with this kind of regulation is that they make the roads a lot less chaotic. They restrict your liberty, but in an acceptable way. Of course, then you have drug possession laws, which do restrict liberty, and only for the purpose of protecting.... uh...somebody, from... uh...something.

Answer 3

I wanted to simplify what a few others have answered.

A law may restrict your liberty if you would otherwise act against it.

A law may increase your liberty if, by restricting others, provides you with more choices.

Parenthetically, a libertarian might argue that a person's 'liberty' does not include using force against another. So by choosing to define liberty this narrowly then all other laws except to make force against another are restrictive against liberty and are wrong. Thankfully, libertarians are only a small percentage of the population.

Answer 4

In absolute terms yes.

The law is in effect an 'exchange' for giving up the 'right' to do whatever you want when you want.
A set of 'common values' such as no killing are agreed in exchange then there are people (police, judiciary etc) involved in dealing with those who break those common values.

The problem today is we have too much legislation.
Instead of accepting the basis that theft is theft and adding new 'types' of theft to current laws by amending legislation.
They create new legislation that overlaps and causes chaos right through the system.

Look how many different types of solicitor there are and how many specialisms. These only occur because lawyers play games with the language used, creating grey areas to get criminals off the hook.
They can then propose new laws etc. etc.

If the HoC (mostly lawyers) really wanted to help people they would produce good quality legislation from the off.
Simplicity and transparency is not in their interests, because then you would understand what to do and how to do it and you wouldn't need them.

Answer 5

I used to think that until I got married, had kids and began paying on a house. Most laws are resisted by those who feel restricted by them and most laws are passed for the common good. Often we hear from groups who rail against laws but upon closer look they are prohibited from doing things for the benefit of the whole of society. Traffic laws promote highways safety to deal with the loss of 35,000 people each year on highways but you can listen to people complain about speed limits, traffic police, signage, etc. Littering laws, use of public parks, zoining restrictions etc are designed to keep someone from doing some type of conduct that infringes on the rights of others. Whenever I hear someone complain that there are too many laws or too restrictive I look to see who does it restrict, who does it benefit. When some people seek to express thier individuality it often is at the expense of many other people's rights or safety. There are actually groups who promote sex with small children, openly and fervently...yeah lets have some restrictions. We can always change a law or appeal it to the judicial system. Otherwise go live in the woods with chipmunks and do what you want.

Answer 6

Of course it is, but a restriction that the majority of us accept as being necessary to protect us from other people exercising their liberty.

Answer 7

In some cases i would say yes to me there's to many frivolous laws but with out law there's total anarchy so it's a necessary evil many of our laws would not need to exist if people had more respect for one another.So to me it's a social problem which they just keep inventing new laws to combat but the jails are full.what ever happened to a boot up the **** and dragged back to your parents people are made into criminals far to easy nowadays.

Answer 8

laws are a protection of one's liberties. If there weren't law, certain people would do things that would take away from your liberties.

Answer 9

No. Law ENFORCEMENT is a restriction on one's liberty.

Answer 10

Law on the press, in a country like Egypt, or Marocco, can be a restriction.
Military law too.
But in general, "dura lex sed lex". A law, however imperfect, is better than no laws at all.

Answer 11

Yes, it is a restriction on our liberty, but paradoxically gives us freedom at the same time. Freedom from fear - of violence, fraud, theft and murder by others.