J. S. Mill And Utilitarianism

Criminal law is a form of law which cares in providing sentencing to the offenders. There are general ideologies that form underlying rationale and basis for legal reasoning. These theories can be used in arguments and analysis of the criminal law. The Principle of Morals and Legislation was introduced by Jeremy Bentham which explains on the essentially pain and pleasure ‘govern us in all we do, in all we say, in all we think’. He also equated a theory that ‘the quantitative amount of happiness resulted from an act dictates how right the act is’. However, J.S.Mill in Utilitarianism scrutinised Bentham’s work, he evaluated the ‘rightness’ of an act based on happiness per say but it was to be measured qualitatively via sensual pleasures at the lower of range whilst intellectual pleasures are at other end. What J.S.Mill meant by happiness must be measured by quality is, for example, what makes one pleasure more valuable than the other, merely as a pleasure, except its greater amount.

‘The basis of criminal law is that there are certain standards of behaviour or moral principles which society requires to be observed and the breach of them is an offence not merely against the person who is injured but against society as a whole’. As such theory holds the position to legislate and maintain objectives morality and hence may threaten individual autonomy. Morality is inherently dynamic and flexible to changes, hence it provides an uncertain standard. For example, it was thought right in law and morality to criminalize homosexual acts but the UK parliament had decriminalized private homosexual acts via the Sexual Offences Act 1967 and with the passing of the Marriage (Same Sex Couple) Act