LAW AND ETHICS IN THE CONTEXT OF CURRENT GLOBAL CHALLENGES
LAW AND ETHICS IN THE CONTEXT OF CURRENT GLOBAL CHALLENGES

Summary/Abstract: In a global context marked by political instability, security crises, climate change, and accelerated socio-economic transformations, the relationship between law and ethics gains particular relevance. Law, through its normative and coercive nature, provides the institutional framework for the functioning of society and the protection of fundamental rights. Ethics, on the other hand, offers the value-based benchmarks and principles of legitimacy that law should reflect. The interdependence of these two domains becomes most evident in times of crisis, when legal decisions are questioned from a moral justice perspective or when legal norms prove insufficient in addressing the complexity of contemporary realities. Current armed conflicts, such as those in Ukraine or the Middle East, highlight the tension between international humanitarian law and ethical demands regarding the protection of life and human dignity. At the same time, climate change raises issues of intergenerational responsibility, insufficiently regulated by law but strongly supported by ethical arguments. Recent pandemics have demonstrated the difficulty of balancing individual freedoms with the common good, while advances in biomedicine and digital technologies require a rethinking of legal norms in light of moral principles of prudence and fairness. These global challenges reveal that law and ethics cannot function in isolation. Law needs an ethical foundation to preserve its legitimacy, while ethics requires legal institutionalization to materialize into social practices and public policies. Strengthening the dialogue between these two dimensions implies harmonizing national and international legislation with fundamental human values, reinforcing mechanisms of global accountability, and promoting civic and legal education based on respect for dignity and solidarity. Therefore, analyzing the relationship between law and ethics in the context of current global challenges emphasizes not only the necessity of interdisciplinary cooperation but also the imperative of maintaining a dynamic balance between normative stability and moral adaptability. Only in this way can an effective framework of global governance be built, capable of responding to the challenges of the 21st century and protecting the fundamental values of humanity.

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