Moral law refers to conduct derived from an ‘objective’ right and wrong. Moral law usually refers to a higher set of principles that should govern conduct that is not necessarily set down by legislation. Instead, moral law appeals typically to a theory of natural law or a set of religious law like canon law. In contrast, positive law is the set of rules actually enacted by society and enforced by its courts and the police.
Courts do at times appeal to moral law in making decisions. For example, a magistrate’s court in New York City based its ruling on a charge of obscene literature on “whether or not the effect of the whole volume is obscene, that is, contrary to the moral law and tending to subvert respect for decency and morality” (see People, on Complaint of Sumner v. Dial Press, Inc.,48 N.Y.S.2d 480 (1944)).
[Last updated in October of 2023 by the Wex Definitions Team]