1. There are two courts that hear criminal trials, which are the Magistrates’ Court and the Crown Court.
All criminal cases start in the magistrates’ court. Cases are heard by either 2 or 3 magistrates or a district judge. There isn’t a jury in a magistrates’ court. A magistrates’ court normally handles summary cases and some triable-either-way offences. Summary offences normally include motoring offences, minor criminal damage or being drunk and disorderly while triable-either-way offences are a bit more serious for example burglary or drug offences, they are called triable-either-way because they can be tried at either the Crown Court or the magistrates’ court. Magistrates’ courts always pass the most serious crimes known as indictable offences to the
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If the court decides that the sentence should be longer than 6 months then the case is passed on to the Crown Court. Courts can also give a combination of punishments. If you disagree with the magistrates’ court’s verdict, you may be able to appeal to a higher court. The Crown Court deals with serious cases, which are called indictable offences. It also deals with appeals against a magistrates’ court conviction or sentence and cases passed from a magistrates’ court for trial or sentencing. There are 3 kind of centres based on the type of work they deal with. First-tier centres- visited by High Court Judges for Crown Court criminal and High Court Civil work. Second-tier centres- visited by High Court Judges for Crown Court criminal work only. Third-tier centres– not normally visited by High Court Judges and handle Crown Court criminal work only. A Crown Court normally has a jury and a judge. A Crown Court can give a range of sentences including community sentences and prison sentences. You can appeal to the Supreme Court if you disagree with the court’s
Q1 THE COURT/S IN WHICH THE CASE WAS HEARD (OUTLINE THE CRIMINAL JURISDICTION OF THE COURT)
They weigh the evidence and apply the law. In the court system, criminal law is interpreted by a jury who are seen as expressing the sense of justice of ordinary men and women. Juries date back to the Middle Ages in England, and while membership, role, and importance have changed throughout the ages, they were part of the system of England’s Common Law. The purpose of the jury system was to ensure the civil rights of the ordinary citizen. It is important to remember that at the time, ordinary people had few rights.
They are the impartial third-party whose responsibility is to deliver a verdict for the accused based on the evidence presented during trial. They balance the rights of society to a great extent as members of the community are involved. This links the legal system with the community and ensures that the system is operating fairly and reflecting the standards and values of society. A trial by jury also ensures the victim’s rights to a fair trial. However, they do not balance the rights of the offender as they can be biased or not under. In the News.com.au article ‘Judge or jury? Your life depends on this decision’ (14 November 2013), Ian Lloyd, QC, revealed that “juries are swayed by many different factors.” These factors include race, ethnicity, physical appearance and religious beliefs. A recent study also found that juries are influenced by where the accused sits in the courtroom. They found that a jury is most likely to give a “guilty” verdict if the accused sits behind a glass dock (ABC News, 5 November 2014). Juries also tend to be influenced by their emotions; hence preventing them from having an objective view. According to the Sydney Morning Herald article ‘Court verdicts: More found innocent if no jury involved’ (23 November 2013), 55.4 per cent of defendants in judge-alone trials were acquitted of all charges compared with 29 per cent in jury trials between 1993 and 2011. Professor Mark Findlay from the University of Sydney said that this is because “judges were less likely to be guided by their emotions.” Juries balance the rights of victims and society to a great extent. However, they are ineffective in balancing the rights of the offender as juries can be biased which violate the offender’s rights to have a fair
The US court system consists of a trial court, an appellate court, and a supreme or high court. The trial court is the first to hear the facts of a case and has original jurisdiction. The appellate court hears cases whose resolution is disputed by the losing party in the trial court. The supreme or high court hears cases whose outcome is disputed by the losing party in the appellate court. The supreme or high court chooses which cases warrant a hearing. The federal and the state court system have the same basic structure. Each consists of a trial court, an appellate court, and a supreme or high court. The Federal Court of Appeals has thirteen (13) circuits which cover most states except the District of Columbia. The federal system also has specialty courts such as the Court of Federal Claims and the United States Tax Court.
Trials by jury are adopted by most countries that use an adversarial legal system under the common law; that is when an impartial judge evaluates evidence gathered by two opposing parties independent of the juridical power as opposed to the civil law’s inquisitorial system where the court itself is involved in the investigation (Block, Parker, Vyborna & Dusek, 2000). The countries using the adversarial system, among which are the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia or USA, only use jury in high-profile criminal cases such as those involving murder, rape, manslaughter or false imprisonment (“When are juries used in criminal and civil cases?”). This makes up approximately 2% of all criminal trials (Lloyd-Bostock, as cited in Howitt, 2002) from
A jury is a panel of citizens, selected randomly from the electoral role, whose job it is to determine guilt or innocence based on the evidence presented. The Jury Act 1977 (NSW) stipulates the purpose of juries and some of the legal aspects, such as verdicts and the right of the defence and prosecution to challenge jurors. The jury system is able to reflect the moral and ethical standards of society as members of the community ultimately decide whether the person is guilty or innocent. The creation of the Jury Amendment Act 2006 (NSW) enabled the criminal trial process to better represent the standards of society as it allowed majority verdicts of 11-1 or 10-2, which also allowed the courts to be more resource efficient. Majority verdicts still ensure that a just outcome is reached as they are only used if there is a hung jury and there has been considerable deliberation. However, the role of the media is often criticized in relation to ensuring that the jurors remain unbiased as highlighted in the media article “Independent Juries” (SMH, 2001), and the wide reporting of R v Gittany 2013 supports the arguments raised in the media article. Hence, the jury system is moderately effective in reflecting the moral and ethical standards of society, as it resource efficient and achieves just outcomes, but the influence of the media reduces the effectiveness.
The next component of the criminal justice system is the court. These courts are ran by judges that make sure the law is followed and oversees what happens in the courtroom. The courts are put in place so that the judges can decide whether to release offenders before the trial, except or reject plea agreements, or sentence convicted offenders (Hoffmann, 2011). The courts provide a set of guidelines that are used to resolve disputes and to test and enforce laws in a fair and rational
There are multiple crime television shows that are based on a true story or fiction. A well known television show is Law and Order Special Victims Unit, which deals with rape and assault cases. This particular episode deals with a domestic violence case between a retired football star, AJ Martin, and his girlfriend, Paula Bryant. I will be using the National Crime Victimization Survey, which is an interview with the members in a household about reported and unreported crime that occurred within the last six months. “NVCS provides information of characteristics of victims, including age, race, ethnicity, gender, marital status and household income” (Truman and Morgan). Official statistics like the NCVS would be used for comparing its demographics
A number of differences exist between the criminal and civil court systems. In the criminal court system, the victim reports the crime to law enforcement who may investigate. If adequate evidence is found during investigation and an arrest is made, a prosecutor files charges against the defendant. The criminal court system considers the crime to be committed against the state rather than against the individual victim. In a criminal case, the prosecutor acts as the attorney for all the people of the state or jurisdiction. They control all key decisions of the case, such as whether to charge a defendant and what crime to charge, and whether to offer or accept a plea deal or go to trial. If the defendant
The Selection, Training and Role of Magistrates in the English Legal System Lay magistrates are unqualified, part-time and unpaid profesionals who are chosen to serve in the magistrates court, yet they deal with the vast majority of cases in the legal system. They do not hear cases on their own but sit as a bench or panel of two or three other magistrates. The use of such unqualified people to judge cases is open to criticism. Magistrates sit in a magistrates court, usually in a bench of three.
Trail courts of six main steps, Arraigning a defendant, impaneling a jury, Hearing and evaluating evidence, Determining the facts, Pronouncing judgment, imposing a sentence (Wright, 2012). The Supreme Courts deal with federal and state cases, that involve both federal and constitutional law. The third branch is corrections. The correctional system deals wight the guilty criminals. The judge first determines what the criminal will be sentences too “Judges are not free to assign any punishment they want but only punishments that are allowed by law, given the seriousness of the offense. Judges cannot, for example, order someone convicted of shoplifting to be executed or flogged with a whip”(Wright, 2012). The corrections deal with the guilty and the punishment that the judge gave to the guilty. Maintaing public safety is the real and only goal for the correction facilities. Providing incarceration and getting the guilty off of the street to ensure public safety and rehabilitation for the criminals. All three of these branches are like a well oiled machine. Each need one another to ensure criminal justice. Law enforcement obtains the person that is providing a public safety
What is a case study? A case study is a process or record of research in which detailed consideration is given to the development of a particular person, group, or situation over a period of time. There is many different types of cases; rape, robbery, arson, kidnapping and finally murder. Case studies lead to trials;a formal examination of evidence before a judge, and typically before a jury, in order to decide guilt in a case of criminal or civil proceedings. One famous case study that went to trial was Jodi Arias Trial. Her case was her getting convicted of brutally murdering her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander.
The courts have the function of giving the public a chance to present themselves whether to prosecute or defend themselves if any disputes against them rise. It is known to everyone that a court is a place where disputes can be settled while using the right and proper procedures. In the Criminal court is the luxury of going through a tedious process of breaking a law. Once you have been arrested and have to go to court because of the arrest, you now have a criminal case appointed against you. The court is also the place where a just, fair and unbiased trial can be heard so that it would not cause any disadvantage to either of the party involved in the dispute. The parties are given a chance to represent themselves or to choose to have a legal representative, which is mostly preferred by many.
Where the Magistrates Court, Crown Court and the County Court are considered as inferior courts; both civil and criminal divisions of courts have little difference. The court hearing first instance of a criminal case is the Magistrates Court. However, when there is a case concerning on a more serious criminal offence, the case would be first heard in the Crown Court instead. First instance of civil cases are usually tried in the Magistrates Court and rarely in the County Court.
The criminal Justice system include agencies such as law enforcement, courts, and prosecution and defense attorneys. Once a crime has been committed it goes through the law enforce first which includes the police officers that investigate the crimes. Then based on evidence they make an arrest and the case goes to court in front of a jury. In court the prosecution and defense attorneys argues to the right of the client and the state. Finally based on the evidence presented and testimonies the alleged criminal goes to prison for however many years deemed fit by a judge.