LAW AND ETHICS: SAME OR DIFFERENT?
Law and ethics are similar in that they have developed in the same historical, social, cultural and philosophical soil (Davis, Aroskar, Liaschenko, & Drought, 1997). Black's Law Dictionary defines law as"that which is laid down, ordained, or established, a body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by controlling authority and having binding legal forces; and that which must be obeyed and followed by citizens subject to sanctions or legal consequences" (Garner, 2004, pp. 884-885). The law may be defined better as the sum total of rules and regulations by which a society is governed. Ethics, on the other hand, are informal or formal standards that guide how individuals or groups of people believe they ought to behave.