AN A320 RECEIVED AN ALT LAW ECAM IN CRUISE. WHILE THE FLT WAS RETURNING TO LAND; ELAC 2 WAS TURNED OFF AND THE ACFT RETURNED TO NORMAL LAW.

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AT FL380; 'ALT LAW' ECAM ILLUMINATED. AS PF; I XFERRED CTL OF ACFT AND ASKED FO TO TAKE THE RADIOS. I ACCOMPLISHED THE ECAM PROCS. SENT DISPATCH A 'CALL ME' ACARS MESSAGE. WHEN CONNECTED; I ASKED DISPATCH TO GET MAINT ON THE LINE. WE DISCUSSED THE ECAM. MAINT ASKED IF I WOULD BE WILLING TO CYCLE FLT CTL SWITCHES OFF. I EXPLAINED THAT IF IT WAS GOING TO GET THE ACFT INTO DIRECT LAW; I WOULD RATHER NOT TRY TO CYCLE THE SWITCHES. AIL SERVO ECAM BEGAN TO ILLUMINATE INTERMITTENTLY. I ASKED MAINT AND DISPATCH IF THERE WAS ANY DANGER IN RETURNING TO ZZZ1 OR IF THEY THOUGHT I SHOULD LAND AT ZZZ3. THE FO AND I AGREED WE WOULD NOT CONTINUE TO ZZZ2 WITH THIS CONDITION. NOTHING IN THE FLT MANUAL INSTRUCTED US TO LAND IMMEDIATELY. THE ACFT WAS FLYING NORMALLY WITH THE AUTOPLT ENGAGED; SO WE ELECTED TO RETURN TO ZZZ1. THE FO AND I BRIEFED THE FLT MANUAL PROCS FOR LNDG (DIRECT LAW AFTER GEAR DOWN); ACCOMPLISHED THE LNDG DISTANCE PROC; CONFIGURED FOR A DIRECT LAW FLAPS 3 DEG LNDG AND BRIEFED THE FLT ATTENDANTS. DURING THE TRANSIT TO ZZZ1; THE 'ELAC 2' ECAM ILLUMINATED. WE ACCOMPLISHED THE ECAM PROCS WHICH HAD US CYCLE THE ELAC 2 SWITCH TO 'OFF;' THEN RETURN TO 'ON.' THIS DID NOT CORRECT THE PROB; SO WE TURNED THE ELAC 2 SWITCH OFF PER THE ECAM. AFTER DOING THIS; I NOTICED THE PFD RETURNED TO PROPER INDICATIONS FOR NORMAL LAW. THE FO AGREED WE WERE BACK IN NORMAL LAW. WE RECONFIGURED FOR A FLAPS FULL NORMAL LNDG. I TOOK BACK CTL OF THE ACFT AND THE FO TOOK THE RADIOS. WE ASKED FOR A LONGER THAN NORMAL FINAL TO ALLOW FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF RETURNING TO ALTERNATE LAW. THE LNDG AT ZZZ1 WAS NORMAL AND UNEVENTFUL. UPON ARR AT ZZZ1; MAINT TROUBLESHOT THE MALFUNCTION AND ULTIMATELY REPLACED ELAC 2.