Sir James Stephen addressed the diversity of morality and law, refuting Mill's liberalist claims. Stephen deduced that without enforced standards of conduct, people would rarely comply voluntarily, arguing that more legal intervention is necessary in the private domain.¹ This contrasts with the court's removal of the offence of "conspiracy to corrupt morals" in Shaw v DPP,² which affirmed that immorality alone does not constitute a crime.

The Wolfenden Report, however, reviewed a bill prohibiting homosexuality and stated, "[t]here must remain a realm of private morality and immorality which is... not the law’s business. To say this is not to condone or encourage private immorality,"³ advocating for non-intervention in matters of private morality. The report supports Mill’s concept of individual autonomy, arguing that it infringes upon minority rights to classify homosexuality as an immoral crime based solely on historical and social context. This perspective was rejected by Lord Denning in his 1957 Law Conference speech,⁴ where he contended that the law should punish immoral acts in both public and private spheres.

This argument for legal intervention was further advanced by Lord Devlin,⁵ who maintained that protecting public morality is more compelling than safeguarding individual freedom. Devlin’s moral jurisprudence posits that criminal law should punish immoral acts, arguing that society cannot exist without a shared moral framework. However, I refute Devlin's argument: if there were a singular concept of morality, its interpretation would not have evolved over the centuries. A fixed moral standard could stifle diversity and, at some point, foster authoritarianism. Minority rights would be less likely to gain acceptance, and those who fall outside certain moral norms could be unjustly deemed criminals. In conclusion, I believe Devlin's rigid moral standards pose a potential risk of excluding minorities within society.

References

1. J. Stephen, “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity” (1873) Cornhill Magazine
2. Shaw v DPP [1961] UKHL 1
3. Wolfenden Committee, Wolfenden Report on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution (HMSO, 1957), para [61]
4. A. Denning, address to the 1957 Conference of the Law Society, The Times, 27 September 1957
5. Jeremy Bentham, Crossing the Line: Morality, Society, and the Criminal Law (1781) https://uk.westlaw.com/Document/ID616592003BC11E2B1DEA435255BFFC8 accessed 8 August 2022