Main Aims of Justice System

1676 Words4 Pages

The main aim of the Justice System is to obtain the truth and enforce laws, statutes and legislation created by the government. However some would argue that some legal procedures in some countries are not as efficient as others at find the truth of what actually happened. The two systems which are constantly being analysed is the Adversarial and the Inquisitorial procedure which both have supporters and critiques, advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, the main aim of the essay will be to demonstrate how legal systems available in some countries are sometimes insufficient in finding the truth of cases and subsequently leading to miscarriage of justice. The essay will do this by focusing on showing a brief history on the development of the current British legal system. Secondly, comparing and contrasting the adversarial and inquisitorial system. Additionally, showing the advantages and disadvantages of these procedures by focusing on four main areas such as, the legal representations, the police, the judges and lastly the defendant. Finally, the paper will conclude by answering the question of whether the adversarial nature of trials provides an effective means of getting to the truth of what happened.

The legal system during the medieval era was not as sophisticated or as concerned with human rights as the much as the justice system is today. Additionally, Hosteller (2008, p. 9) reports that treason and felony cases of those accused were not permitted to have legal council present to support them. He also goes on to state that during this period many trials were, trials by ordeal where by a person was likely to be kill or tortured in a brutal fashion such a trial by fire, water, or battle. However, these forms of the ...

... middle of paper ...

...ice: The History and Origins of Adversary Trial. Winchester: Waterside Press.

Malleson, K. (2007). The Legal System. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Dammer, H.R. (2013). Comparative Criminal Justice Systems. United Kingdom: Cengage Learning.

Doak, J. and McGourlay, C. (20120. Evidence in Context. 3rd ed. London: Routledge.

Newburn, T. (2009). Key Readings in Criminology. Cullompton: Willan Publishing.

Smith, C.E. (2003). Courts and Trials: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO.

Holt, R. (4th June 2010) The Telegraph. Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7795117/The-Guildford-Four-in-the-name-of-justice.html [Accessed 10th December 2013]

Human Rights Act 1998 [online]. Legislation. Available from:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/schedule/1/enacted

[Accessed 13th December 2013]

Open Document