The Right to Break the Law? Perfect Enforcement of the Law Using Technology Impedes the Development of Legal Systems

Technological developments increasingly enable monitoring and steering the behavior of individuals. Enforcement of the law by means of technology can be much more effective and pervasive than enforcement by humans, such as law enforcement officers. However, it can also bypass legislators and courts and minimize any room for civil disobedience. This significantly reduces the options to challenge legal rules. This, in turn, can impede the development of legal systems. In this paper, an analogy is made with evolutionary biology to illustrate that the possibility to deviate from legal rules and existing norms is sometimes necessary for the further development of legal systems. Some room to break the law, for instance, through civil disobedience or imperfect enforcement of the law, will ensure sufficient variation. This allows for properly evolving legal systems that can continue to provide fair solutions, even when society and concepts of fairness further develop.

Automated summary

Technological developments allow for effective monitoring and control of individuals, but they also pose risks by bypassing legislation and courts, limiting the ability to challenge legal rules. This paper uses the analogy of evolutionary biology to argue that some deviation from the law is necessary for the further development of legal systems and the provision of fair solutions.