Case Study on Legal Proceedings

Case Study on Legal Proceedings

Legal proceedings are a seminal example of a cultural performance.

For this case study I observed Murder trial proceedings at the Supreme

Court of New South Wales (Taylor Square) - September 2004

The performance of a legal proceeding; its content, manner, actors,

audience and setting, all reflect certain cultural and societal

traditions evident in the practice of age old English tribunals from

which the Australian legal system has derived. Yet, from an analysis

of these various element one can recognize how this practice reflects

the influenced (or lack there of) of many other societal values,

religion, gender roles and modernity, on society as a whole.

The content of the courtroom performance is based on legal

documentation and practice, its roots deeply embedded in precedent and

values imbued by the "rule of law". The script of the performance,

being the arguments presented by the adversarial bodies and the

interaction of the Judge, are carefully comprised and supported by

written legal documentation which remains on display for all to see.

Folders of evidence and research and secondary materials litter the

courtroom and serve the purpose to legitimize oral arguments and

intimidate the opposing side.

Dialect is formal and formulaic. The well versed professionals and

practitioners adopt an extensive and sophisticated vocabulary,

decorated with Latin phrases, legal jargon, power statements, catch

phrases, reference to documented precedent and evidence as well as

biblical, literary and scientific allusion.

Expressions of authority and acumen are ceremoniously enacted with

respect to off...

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...munity, within the scope of the "trial" performance all involved

are reminded of the law's content, its morality, its dignity and its

power. A trial popularizes the law by disseminating and demonstrating

it to a lay audience, giving participants the opportunity and the

cathartic satisfaction of approving the law by serving as the

instruments of deliberation and decision. Furthermore, it democratizes

the law by calling the community to witness, and by making it

collectively responsible for the law's effectuation. And this is

rightly so, for it is the collective community who is ultimately

responsible for this performance. The tax payers of the general

public, government officials, upstanding well educated professionals

and the accused criminals of society come together to both participate

and fund this cultural display.