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Is there an obligation to obey unjust laws?

Augustine said that, without justice, a legal system is just ‘a gang of criminals on a large scale’. An unjust community, he claimed, is ‘some kind of mob, not deserving the name of a people’. Based on sentiments like these, it is tempting to conclude that we have no obligation to obey unjust laws; that they are, as the classical natural law slogan puts it, ‘no laws at all’. However, further reflection shows the situation is more complex. This seminar explores the circumstances under which people may come to have moral obligations to obey unjust laws. The ability of governments to create such obligations constitutes a form of moral manipulation that inflicts serious harm on citizens, as well as the legal system.

Jonathan Crowe is Head of School and Dean of the School of Law and Justice at the University of Southern Queensland, where he also holds a Research Chair in Law and Justice. He previously taught at Bond University and the University of Queensland. He is the author of numerous books and articles on legal philosophy, ethics and public law.