7/30/2019 Law Does Not Work in a Vacuum

1/2

Law does not work in a vacuumBased on my understanding, law is a set of rules or believes that are made up by a certain

body in the government. However, it does not work, if there are neither personnel to execute the

law nor citizens to abide to it. By the metaphor vacuum, the interpretation that I could come out

with is that in a place without anyone or any other external factors, the law proves to be useless

because it will just remain as a set of documents and there will be no enforcement. Furthermore,

law will not exist when there are no factors behind the formation of it. Only when there are

problems affecting the balance of the society, then will there be law to adjust the behaviour of

individuals or to repair the situation.For example, many laws have been made and enforced throughout the year due to the

recent environmental cases. Open burning, which cause habitats of animal to be destroyed and

the depletion of the ozone layer has caused more and more citizens to be aware of the

surrounding that they live in and began taking extra action to prevent the situation from getting

worse. Law such as National Forestry Act 1984, Environmental Quality Act 1974, and Protection

of Wildlife Act 1972 had been implemented to help save the environment and had proved to be

of help. Citizens playing a role in abiding to the laws and doing a part in saving the environment

also leads up to the succession on the implemented law.

In the age of globalization, we had eye-witnessed the immense growth in international

trade and finance. It has made countries to work more closely with each other and has led to

several innovations in science and technology. However, it has contributed to environmental

degradation as well. Hazardous waste and smoke from factories had caused water and air

pollution. These harmful situations had been the catalyst and acts as a leap stone for

environmentalist to take action and it triggers the formation of new laws to balance the nature of

the earth.

On a more macro basis, law also cannot operate in a vacuum because, law, in its very

nature, functions to protectbe it protecting the environment, or animals, or even people.

Needing such circumstances to function in, such as childrens rights to education, already makes

law inoperable in a vacuum. As mentioned earlier, without the elements for law to be enforced

on, law will remain only but a set of written documents. Which is no wonder why then non-

7/30/2019 Law Does Not Work in a Vacuum

2/2

governmental organizations like the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (FOMCA)

remain a relatively important body up till today especially concerning governmental policies on

food, housing, health care, education, human rights and so forth. In a nutshell, every citizen as a

consumer has his/her rights to choose, to safety, to be informed, to be heard, to remedy, to

environment health, to service and to consumer education. FOMCA of course, operates under the

laws and jurisdiction Malaysias Consumer Protection Act 1999 (CPA) which aims to provide

greater protection for consumers in terms of their rights to choice, safety and most importantly,

access to basic necessities of life..

Therefore, for legislations like the Environmental Quality Act 1974 and CPA 1999 to

function in its state, the laws requires elements such as the environment and the consumer to

protect, which already breaks the conditions of a vacuum. These situations are the direct

opposite of a vacuum situation in which law cannot function in, but rather, will only be useful

when there are factors behind it, driving it, or needing itbe it factors to protect an endangered

species from the snares of poachers or to simply to ensure consumers get what they deserve. In

the end, we live in a planet where one thing leads to another like the activation of a chain effect,

which could probably describe the relationship of law and its factors and thus explain the phrase

that Law does not work in a vacuum.