Morals of the Church
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Section — Wouters, Manual of Moral Theology

§ I. On the Cessation of the End of Law

173.

The end of a law is said to cease negatively if the law ceases to be useful; contrariwise, if it becomes harmful. In addition, the end of a law can cease for the whole community, or only in a case or for a particular person, while the general utility remains.

I. If the end of a law ceases both totally and for the whole community, the law itself ceases, as being a harmful or useless ordering, at least with respect to the end intended by the legislator (St. Thomas, I-II, q. 103, a. 4, ad 3; St. Alphonsus, I, 199). I said "if the end of the law ceases totally," because, if the legislator has fixed several ends for himself, if one persists, the law persists (St. Alphonsus, loc. cit.).

II. If the end of a law ceases only in a case or for a particular person, the law itself does not cease; nevertheless:

  1. If the end ceases contrariwise, that is, if the law becomes harmful, here and now it does not oblige (n. 170). Hence, for example, a wife is not held, indeed she cannot fast, if harm threatens the fetus from fasting.

  2. If the end ceases negatively, that is, if the law becomes useless in a particular case or for a particular person, here and now it nevertheless obliges. This follows from what was said in n. 152 (cf. St. Thomas, II-II, q. 154, a. 2; St. Alphonsus, I, 199).

How a law ceases