Introduction
The term “Law” defines various kinds of principles and rules. It is used as an instrument that regulates human behaviour or conduct. Law refers to Morality, Justice, Order, Righteousness, Reason from the Society’s view point. It means Rules, Regulations, Acts, Ordinance, and Statutes from the legislature’s view point. Law refers to Judgment, Decrees, Rules of court, Orders of courts, and Injunctions from the Judge’s view point. This is why, law is known as a wider phrase which includes Decrees, Order of Courts, Injunction legal theory, Jurisprudence, rules of court, Tort etc. As per Salmond ‘The word Law is interpreted as the structure of the principles that are applied and recognized by state in administration of justice’. Therefore, law comprises of rules that are recognized and acted upon by the Courts of Justice. Introduction refers to the matter that there took a change in the social form of society. Social structure must be understood by the terms such as nature, Social behaviour, Social relations, Social Organizations, Community of People. Social change also refers to any change in the social arrangement. Charles L. Harper defined social change as, ‘significance in the alteration of social structure and cultural patterns through time.’
Interaction between the Law and the Social Transformation
Law is the most effective tool of social transformation but in some cases social transformations becomes the law. In India, there are two important organizations that constitutes the change in the law, that is the legislature, which passes new laws, amendments are executed to the old acts to match the current requirement. The second organization is the judiciary, here coexist the interpretation of the rule of land and law of land.
Law as an Instrument of Social Change
Law is described as the set of regulations and rules which are applied to administer a society or simply to control it. Society is required to be controlled since there is always a requirement to maintain a counterbalance between the society and the individuals existing in it as to which they could interdependently coexist that in succession will comply in conducting social changes.
Since a society includes all kinds of people in it, there is a obvious possibility of few groups of people who are in some authoritative positions or dominance because of factors such as power, financial position and position to rule over any other groups of people, those who belong to relatively weaker group. The result of dominance in society caused certain notable issues that is being poverty, corruption, murder, rape, acid attacks, prostitution, lynching, child marriage, drug abuse, discrimination of race, colour, caste, gender , child labour. Law behaves as the driving wheel for a society to eliminate all sorts of hurdles by administrating through legislation and statutes that contributes in changing the current and future society. Society witnessed several modifications during past few decades and law has been contributing in implementing changes but yet society related issues are not escaping totally in fact they are eventually accelerating. The laws are impacting in changing the society, Society is bringing in difference in the structure of law.
When one says that laws are impacting in transformation of the society that person indicates that the law is making the society abide by it to make a difference in the ambience that is already existing. Let’s take these as examples: untouchability that has been a protracted societal issue. The Article 17[1] of the Constitution of India declared untouchability must be prohibited. Now if somebody practices untouchability, then that person will be guilty of violating Indian Law and will be held liable. Apparently, when any society brought a difference in the law it simply meant the society is modifying itself to the laws by the process it needs to. Sati was practiced for a prolonged period that pressurized wives so that they are burnt alive with their dead husbands. The custom was made mandatory to follow among all the Hindu people. The society is what brought ethics to abolish the practice. Thus in some factors the society made some change in subsisting law. There has been various social factors where the law is concerned with and tries to make a difference in.
Relation between the Law and Social Change
The term social change is being used in enormous subjects like economics, political science, sociology and law. This defines social change being influenced by lots of domain to function. Law being a subject is one of the most important among all the mentioned ones, Law is the code which synchronizes the society. Law is one of the most superior power in hands of any state to regulate what’s right or wrong in a particular society. Law isn’t only there to provide the society with a structure of rules and regulations as per which society shall be governed but to regulate rules as per which a society is expected to adopt its own ways to ensure welfare to its citizens living there.
Customarily, the pattern which was followed by any society to arrange itself to saturate elements of consistency, uniformity, and development in the society. Those patterns or norms which were welcomed by the society shapes as Law and with legal acceptance became enforceable. The people living in that society abided by those norms in life and any transgression of it would result in the offence either civil or criminal in nature. Indistinguishable kind of pattern is accepted at the present world as well. The solitary difference which has appeared are amendments which has its place in the already existing laws to modernize society. Thus, the relation between the law and the society is evidently old and needs to be nurtured.
Researchers have conveyed most of the times that law is one of the best tools for regulating social change through, sometimes it’s social change which itself stands as the statute. These are a sign of technological upliftment, demographic structure, change of ideologies and modernization in the society, which is why social change takes place. A Judge Benjamin Cardozo said “Law shouldn’t be contemplated as a explicit tool aiming to approach social changes though being a flexible tool of necessity to bring in the welfare of the society”. This applies to the quintessence of the Indian Constitution as well. Law is so much dynamic in nature, and this aspect assists it to adopt the form of its surroundings.
Theories on Social Change
There are two major theories conditioned on which the social changes take place are :
The Linear Theory of Social Change
This particular theory in social change refers to the improvement or advancement in society that takes place as the society inclines to a greater civilization eventually. Accordingly, with the evolution in the society, society changes itself. Consequently, society eventually proceeds to an even greater position of civilization, where it transforms in a linear fashion, in the direction of betterment.
The Cyclic Theory of Social Change
In this theory, social change means those changes which takes place in a society is apparently in some cyclic form, henceforth, occurs time after time. Whereas this theory labels social change as rigidly constant in nature provided any periodic consistency.
These theories of all social changes alone could not bring in the alteration in any society, therefore, obviously requires the assistance of Law. The Law helps to bring all the theories to pass through the necessary proceedings in order to be implemented as rules. Therefore without legal rules and regulations, it isn’t likely possible to carry out the social movements.
Conclusion
As the term suggests social change and law is quite inter-related, we could also say in what way a law could be utilized as a tool of the social change, it’s evident that the law is already a tool which is there to bring in social changes and precisely it has adopted numerous numbers of social changes but yet has a prolong way to go to bring about societal transformations. Society being a heterogeneous platform where citizens of all caste, creed, class, colour, sex, background resides together. Its important that no discrimination should be measured among these citizens disregarding of identities escorting homogeneity that could be only executed by the subject of law. The phrase social change is what every society and its citizens look upto it since a change for the betterment is forever greeting. Law has a very crucial role in approaching a social change. Lawless society has no harmony or peace between it’s citizens and the society. Former chief Justice of India P.N. Bhagwati once told “responsibility of giving life and pervading blood onto a shape of the legislation to create living element which could fulfil the requirements of the society reclines on the judges. Law being a subject can’t itself impose or approach a social transformation without any help from the lawmakers. Therefore a method by which the law could be imposed as a tool for implementing social changes is only by the judges’ those are the Law holders/Law makers.
Reference:
[1] Article 17 of the Indian Constitution (Untouchability is abolished and the practice of it in any form is unlawful or forbidden)
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