Introduction
The term “unlawful conduct” is used to refer to as the conduct that is general forbidden by law. It includes all actions that go against the law. Many aspects of Civil and criminal law also fall within unlawful conduct (Martin, 2001). Criminal law includes all actions that the law has defined illegal. A guilty person in a criminal law gets punished in either a fine, jail term or other forms of penalties. Civil law on the other hand deals with actions of disagreements between people/citizens. In civil law, there is no particular crime that is committed. A defendant who loses is not subjected to punishment but only pays or reimburses the losses to the plaintiff. Also, the law defines a ‘fault’ as a when somebody has been proven to have done something or engaged in unlawful act.
The reform of the law that describes an act to be unlawful conduct has increasing become a matter of concern. This is because there are many factors that impact the reform. These factors influence how and why a conduct is or is not considered unlawful (Tayler et al., 2011). Majority of the factors have been brought by the ever changing environment characterized with new challenges. Some of the factors include technological development, social and economic reasons, protection from harm and the enforceability of the law. The society has greatly benefited from technological development. This is because the advancement has switched on many life aspects and increase the value of living. However, technological development has also arrived with new hectic challenges. Technology has become a media in which people use to committing crimes (Kleinfeld, 2012). For instance, downloading a song directly from the internet without even paying for it has been a common behavior among people. However, the law categorically illegalizes such behaviors. They are unlawful behavior brought by technology advancement. As new technology is discovered, appropriate updates and law reforms has been modeled to cover the new areas of crime associated with technology.
Secondly, for economic and social reasons, the reform of the law has been put in place. This is because the ever changing social and economic environment exposes citizens to new social crimes. Innocent people become victims of emerging social evils made by their neighbors (Scheb et al., 2011). This creates the need for reforming the law to appropriately address such social and economic concerns. Various organizations of law enforcers are also much involved either directly or indirectly in influencing the reform of the law. For example, being at the forefront in enforcing the law, the police often get in decisive positions. When it comes to protecting themselves from harm during their lines of duty, there have been cases that they apply unnecessary force. Many innocent victims have suffered in this way when the police open fire with a motive of protection (Šikuta et al., 2007). In most case, these actions have been described as unlawful since the law does not allow such act. Motives of protection against harm have therefore been a critical issue that influences law reforms. Sometimes people take the law into their own hands. They never observe what is provided or defined by the law. Law enforcing in such scenario has been critical element to determine law reforms.
There are different methods of law reform that determine the measures to considering unlawful conduct. These methods have been put in place by the various reforms made by the stipulated organs and authorities entrusted to carry out the task of protect the law. These include reforms by the legislature/parliament, judiciary, Law commissions and advisory committees among other organs. Most countries and specifically the United States, law reforms are carried out by the acts of parliament (Šikuta et al., 2007). This is done through successive sittings until the bills to make a reform undergo all stages successfully. In this case, the judiciary, that does their activities mainly under the umbrella of the law, works closely with the parliament to ensure that necessary reforms are implemented. Special courts such as the European court of human rights are an example of the judiciary’s involvement in the reforms of the law. Law commissions are constitutionally organizations mandated to oversee and take appropriately actions of various issues. In most of the cases, law commissions heavily influence the course and law practices of a particular region or a nation. Other methods of law reforms are achieved through advisory committees. These are committees formed in particular to offer advice to other organizations or a specific arm of the government (Tayler et al., 2011). Such committees are comprised of people with expertise in the law discipline. Their main advice is based within the law. Therefore, advisory committees carry a major role in law reform.
The debate to considering what is lawful and unlawful has therefore been a matter of concern. Various reforms as discussed above are being carried out to ensuring that the society is safe and peaceful. In carrying out the reforms, the various influences and organizations that heavily take part in the process has been discussed. They include the judiciary, parliament, advisory committees, law commission, and the special courts mandated to implement law reforms. These are the major elements and factors that greatly impact the decisions in considering the definitions of unlawful conduct in different contexts. `Principles of peace and orderly society are the benchmark to the decisions made on law reform.
References
Kleinfeld, R. 2012. Advancing the rule of law abroad. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Martin, A. 2001. Methods of law reform. Southampton: University of Southampton.
Scheb, J. and Scheb, J. 2011. Criminal law and procedure. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Šikuta, J. and Hubálková, E. 2007. European Court of Human Rights. The Hague: T.M.C Asser Press.
Tayler, L. and Ganguly, M. 2011. The "anti-nationals". New York, NY: Human Rights Watch.
