...“adversary system” and the “civil system” I found them both to have different approaches to obtain the same results, “the truth”. The court procedures in a civil system vary from country to country. The adversary system is more effective in having a fair trial. This system uses two attorneys to represent their respective clients. There is also an impartial judge (and jury if needed) to render a verdict. The jury is group of 12 peers that are sworn to listen to the facts of a case. Jurors are questioned by the prosecution and defense to try to insure they are not biased. A unanimous decision is required for conviction. While opposing attorneys are to represent their clients to the best of their abilities they are also officers of the court. As officers of the court lawyers have an ethical duty to tell judges the truth. In the civil system the judge establishes the facts of the case, brings charges, gathers the evidence, and questions plaintiffs and defendants. Attorneys play a less active role in defending their clients, they are charged with finding the truth. In a criminal trial the decision is made by a judge or group of judges and a small group of lay assessors. Lay assessors are selected randomly from the population. They are not questioned by the prosecution or the defense, so they could be biased. A two-thirds majority is usually required for conviction. The US Constitution gives us certain rights that the civil law system does not. For example in the US, you have the...
Words: 724 - Pages: 3
...Judicial system can vary everywhere. Countries determine a judicial system based on their form of government. Islamic countries mainly adopt Sharia law or Islamic legal system, for instance; Sharia law system is applied in Iran. Another example, in former ottoman, Islamic legal system was substantially implemented depending on Quran, Sunnah, ijma and ijtihad, but especially after the Tanzimat Edict in 1839, the Ottoman Empire gradually began to adopt European law (beginning of democratization); on the other hand, there is independence of the judicial system due to the separation of powers in democratic countries. Separation of powers is an indispensable part of the democratic countries. Separation of powers consists of legislative, executive and judiciary. Briefly, duty of legislative makes the laws. Duty of executive implements the laws. Another part of the separation of powers; judiciary makes trial depending on the law. Judiciary is the most important organ of the separation of powers, and independence of the judiciary is essential in democratic countries. What is independence of the judiciary? Independence of the judiciary is basically separately from the legislative and executive branches . So, what is the level of independent judgment in democratic countries? We will talk about the American legal and judicial system in this article. American legal system was adopted in 1789; it governs according to the constitution of the United States. All the rules of the legal...
Words: 2982 - Pages: 12
...Distinguishing Features of the Major Court Systems Katie Van Alstine University of Phoenix Distinguishing Features of the Major Court Systems There are two kinds of courts in the United Stated – state courts and federal courts. Each one possesses their own distinguishing features. We will look at the key players at each level as well as jurisdictional rules, interpretation issues as well as the effect of evolving technology on court proceedings at each level. State courts are established by each individual state and within the state there being local courts that are established by cities, counties, and other municipalities. Federal courts, however, are established under the US Constitution and their main focus is to decide disputes involving the Constitution and the laws that have been passed by Congress. Each level of the court system has key players that include but are not limited to the judge, prosecutor, defense attorney and jury. At the state level, both the judge and the prosecutor are elected officials. These individuals are elected for an eight year term by the majority vote of both houses in the General Assembly. For example in the case of Commonwealth of VA vs. George Huguely V, the presiding judge was Honorable Edward L. Hogshire, Judge and the Commonwealth’s Attorney was Warner D. Chapman. Federal judges such as the Supreme Court justices, court of appeals judges and district court judges are all nominated by the President and confirmed by the...
Words: 1130 - Pages: 5
...LAW AND THE LEGAL SYSTEM PLA 3014 SPRING SEMESTER 2016, Exam #1 CONCEPTS TO HELP YOU REVIEW I. Terms, Cases and Concepts You Should Understand and Be Able to Define to Ensure Maximum Success on the Multiple Choice and Short Answer Sections of Exam Civil Disobedience What are the functions that law fulfills in society? (pp. 2-4) Malum in Se (and be able to identify examples illustrating these laws) Malum Prohibitum (and be able to identify examples illustrating these laws) Precedent (and why important to the common law and our court system) Stare Decisis (and why important to the common law and our court system) What is Natural Law? Why important to history and formation of common law? What is Positive Law? What is the “sociological theory of law?” What are the four primary sources of law? Where do we find “law” today? What was the most important source of law historically for the common law? What is the order of importance of sources of law today in U.S.? Change in Legal Methodology in U.S. (hint: what was the change in focus in the US regarding the four sources of law? Why? See p. 37) What are the major differences between criminal and civil law in the U.S. today? Be able to define role and significance of constitutional law, statutory law, case law, and administrative and regulatory law in today’s society What are the four global legal traditions? Which are most prevalent today? Be able to briefly define each of the four global legal traditions and provide...
Words: 1130 - Pages: 5
...The primary function of the federal courts is to apply and enforce all federal laws created by Congress. These laws, in the form of statutes or codifi ed law, include a large body of federal criminal laws that range from violations of environmental laws to treason and piracy. (Chapt. 8, p. 12) The federal courts have a second and perhaps even more important function: They are continually called on to test the constitutionality of federal and state legislation and of court decisions. (Ch.8, p.13) At the lowest level of jurisdiction are the federal magistrates, formerly called United States commissioners. The magistrates not only have trial jurisdiction over minor federal offenses, but they also have the important task of issuing warrants of arrest or search warrants to federal law enforcement offi cers, such as agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Congress expanded the power of the federal magistrates by allowing them to “undertake virtually any task performed by district judges, except for felony trials and sentencing. (Ch.8, p.13) The trial courts in the federal system, called United States district courts , have both civil and criminal jurisdiction. (Ch.8, p.13) An appeal of a conviction in a federal district court is heard by a United States circuit court of appeal . The last handles appeals that originate anywhere in the country when they pertain to such matters as patents and copyrights, some...
Words: 1631 - Pages: 7
...Maulid Rezki BUS 201 12/02/2013 Court Paper Assignment Part 1 What courthouse did you attend? King County Court House What was the date? November 25, 2013 What was the judge’s name? Mary Yu What type of proceeding was it? (criminal or civil) Criminal What was the subject of the case (murder, personal injury, divorce, assault, etc)? Murder What stage of proceeding did you observe (direct testimony, voir dire, opening arguments, closing arguments, motions, expert witness testimony, ect.)? Trial , Expert witness testimony, witness testimony, motions. The court visit on Monday, November 25, 2013 was the second time I stepped in to the King County Superior Court in Seattle. I went there by car with two of my classmates around twelve o’clock. As usual people were lining up before the security check in. We had to put all our bags on a conveyor belt to go to through the x-ray check, just like any other security check in. After the security check, we asked one of the security guards about the locations for the cases that we wanted to watch. We checked the schedule and decided to watch a murder case. The person who work at the information table saw us wandering around the schedule, she spotted us and know that we are student. She gave us the directions to the room that the cases would be held. She was really friendly in answering questions for the first time and giving us basic court room manner. All other cases was already started about an hour before, the...
Words: 1311 - Pages: 6
...The U.S. Federal Court system I have chosen the United States Federal Court System as my topic of research. I believe the U.S Federal Court System is paramount to our criminal justice system. Today the Federal Court System is a complex structure of courts and actors working together in an imperfect process to deliver justice. Throughout the years there’s been controversy and debate between the rights of state and federal courts. However, as the dual process evolved they became dependent on each other. Without one or the other, the system will not function properly. The Federal Courts have been a controversial issue since the 18th century. The two landmark decisions that are well known are the Article III of the U.S Constitution and the Judiciary Act of 1789. Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation in the past was thought to be the absence of a national supreme court to enforce federal law and resolve conflicts and issues between different states. The major issue during the Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 was that there be a separate court system for federal and state. This divided the people into two groups, the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Anti-Federalists were advocates of state’s rights and feared a strong national government that would result in the weakening of individual liberties. The Federalists on the other hand distrusted the states and favored a strong national government. This conflict between the two groups was later resolved at the...
Words: 2828 - Pages: 12
...versus Reality Erin Roupp CJS / 220 May 29, 2011 Lacey Martz Many television shows on our networks today focus around our law enforcement and our criminal justice system. Shows like Law & Order, N.C.I.S, Castle, and NYPD Blue focus more on the law enforcement side of it, showing the viewing audience the life of a police officer or detective and how they solve crimes, sometimes entwining prosecutors and court rooms into the script. Other shows such as Judge Judy, Judge Joe Brown, Divorce Court, and The People’s Court focus on the justice system and how it applies laws to court cases to reach verdicts. Today, with all the shows out on the networks, many Americans watch these shows and believe that they can learn our court systems and laws by watching them. Many do not take into consideration that the shows are purely imaginative script writings and that the laws applied in them or the way such cases are handled are not necessarily true and correct. Although the script writers of these shows do try to keep the story line somewhat accurate to real events, they do add exciting clips and scenes to enhance the drama in them to suit the viewing audiences to raise ratings. This paper is going to discuss the legal system as the courts handle it as well as comparing fictional portrayals and actual court cases with the purpose of trying to show the differences between the two. I will start with the fictional side and discuss televised shows and how they portray the law...
Words: 1218 - Pages: 5
...culprits. How sad is that? The judicial system was designed to only lock...
Words: 2745 - Pages: 11
...History of the U.S. Criminal Court System CJA/491 Amy Miller 5-27-2013 Professor Angela Bradrick Introduction This paper will examine the historic development of the American courts. It will define common law heritage and discuss the evolution of American law. It will also discuss, compare, and contrast the evolution of the United States courts, including state vs. federal, and trial vs. appellate courts. Common Law Heritage and the Evolution of American Law Back in the time of medieval England, common law heritage was established. Because of the unwritten laws of this time, judges used customs and societal norms to determine what laws were sufficient for what crimes. These were considered judge made laws. Judges would decide cases by using past rulings and sentencing to determine current similar cases; this was called stare decisis (Meyer & Grant, 2003). It was important for judges to use this procedure, making it a less difficult to prosecute each case independently. According to Meyer and Grant (2003), common law was un-codified, meaning these were unwritten laws. As stated earlier, judges used previous verdicts to identify what forms of prosecution and sentencing of law-breaking acts would be implemented in current cases. Codified laws, or written laws were also defined by pre-existing customs, but they were written statutes in which society could familiarize with and recognize as a law. The changes came about, when the common laws were codified...
Words: 1086 - Pages: 5
...alarmingly continues to be contested and vague even in economically developed liberal democratic states recognized for the rule of law. This was particularly indicated by leading US constitutional scholar ‘name’, ‘there is a disagreement about whether or how to criticize judges and their decisions, and about whether or how to discipline judges. And, of course, there is pervasive disagreement about whether our judges exhibit too much or too little independence.’ The problems are exaggerated in cases of developing countries with unstable democracies and non-liberal authoritarian regimes. The key objective of this essay is to subject judicial independence and the statements presented on its behalf to critical examination. China is of use when analysing general ideas as it signifies a challenge to the universal understanding about what judicial independence is and why it is important. Although China ‘has never had independent courts’, the country continues to be an effective single-party socialist authoritarian regime, becoming a likely model for other developing states. Judicial Corruption in China It is certainly reasonable to say that judicial independence is an acknowledged theory in the Chinese Constitution. The original 1954 Constitution declared the need for the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) to judge cases independently. In the current Constitution, Article 126 additionally states that the SPC shall use judicial power independently in accordance with the law, without any intervention...
Words: 3903 - Pages: 16
...accepted in the jurisdictions within the United States. Common law is based on the old English Legal System of laws based on the overthrow of monarchial dictators and the replacement with a representative system of Parliament. When the American Colonies established their independence in the late 1700’s they adopted much of the English legal system that they knew when they immigrated to the “New World”. This became the initial basis for civil and criminal law in the newly formed United States. Common law results from judicial decisions handed down from the courts. Most of the common law in criminal issues pertaining to the modern criminal justice system has been subjugated by state and federal legislatures that have created statutes establishing criminal law violations. In dealing with Common Law there is a catch-22 type of situation. When a common law is overridden by a statute creation the history of the common law is vacated in terms of how laws are executed. The problem arises when the enforcement method of the new law has common law as its basis. If this is not deemed acceptable by society then another statutory law has to be created. Whenever new laws are enacted there are frequently challenges in court. These challenges depending on the jurisdiction of the law end up going through the system and various courts of appeals. Ultimately they may reach the US Supreme Court where a decision on the constitutionality of the common law and/or statute may be determined. If either...
Words: 709 - Pages: 3
...opinion is very important in any judicial system. In the event that there are conflicts between two individuals which lead to a court case, the lawyers for both the defendant and the complainant are allowed to interpret some laws that are oftentimes unclear and ambiguous in a manner that suit their arguments. The judges that presiding over the court cases are, thus, expected to have great discernment and an in-depth understanding of the US Constitution. This is so as to assess who, between the two lawyers, is right and, consequently, make a ruling that is as fair as possible. The Constitution of the United States of America is comprised of a set of legal decrees with different geneses. Some of the laws therein were passed by the American parliamentary body while others came to be as a result of the establishment by elected representatives in the different American states. In addition to these two sources of laws and constitutional interpretation, there are others that are also applied by judges. These include the natural law, the implications of alternate interpretations, as well as the text and structure of the American Constitution. As will be indicated in this paper, the manner by which the US Constitution is interpreted has undergone transformation over the years. This is a normal occurrence since public policies are always being altered, modified, changed or completely abandoned for fresh ones perceived to be more practical. The system, whereby the lawyers can interpret the...
Words: 1473 - Pages: 6
...NATIONAL UNIVERSITY «ODESSA LAW ACADEMY» Department of International Law and International Relations TERM PAPER In Legal Philosophy on topic: «Judicial Precedent» By the 1st year student of the 1st group Of the Faculty of International Legal Relations Supervisor: Prof. National scale ___________ Number of points ______ Assessment ECTS _______ Commission members: ___________ _______________________ ___________ _______________________ ___________ _______________________ ODESSA 2014 THEME: Judicial Precedent PLAN INTRODUCTION …………………………………..…………………………… 3CHAPTER 1. Judicial Precedent: generals 1.1. Definition of judicial precedent ………………………………….…... 51.2. The doctrine of stare decisis ……..………………………….……..… 61.3. Ratio decidendi and Obiter dictum …..………………………….....… 7CHAPTER 2. Types of precedent2.1. Verticality ……………………………………………………………. 102.2. Horizontality ………………………………………………………… 112.3. Binding precedent …………………………………………….……... 122.4. Persuasive precedent ………………………………………………… 15 CHAPTER 3. Avoiding precedent 3.1. Distinguishing …………………..……………………………………. 19 3.2. Overruling ……………………………………………………………. 19 3.3. Reversing ……………………………………………………………... 20 3.4. Per incuriam…………………………………………………………… 20 CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………………... 22LITERATURE …………………………………………………………………... 25 | INTRODUCTION At the present stage of development of Ukraine in the framework of the democratic process, there are the emergence...
Words: 6308 - Pages: 26
...such as Act 1934 iv. State statutory law: law starting from state senate, and then state assembly. Finally, signed or veto by governor c. Common law/ Case law/judge made law： 简单而言，就是"判例法"的意思；就是说，法院在进行诉讼审判时，寻求过去的司法判例当作审判依据，根据的是"平等原则"（或者说"正义原则"），亦即"相同的诉讼，有相同的审判结果"，因此对当事人有了公平与正义的保障。 v. Law made through interpretation by judges of common law, constitution, statutes, & admin law d. Administrative law:行政法 II. Graph III. Law v. Equity: e. Law can get monetary damage f. Equity can get injunction, specific performance, rescission g. Controlling precedents: supreme court binds all; us court of appeal bind with US district court. IV. School of law thoughts h. Natural law school: 法律正道是国家制订的法律之外的、存在于人的内心中的自然法，而非由人们的协议产生的规则本身的法学学派 i. Positivist school:there is no law higher than the law created by the government j. Historical: passage of time to shape present laws k. Legal realism: more pragmatic approach to the law Chapter 2: Court System I. Federal court system: organized by circuit a. US supreme court b. US court of appeal by ____circuit c. US district court, specialized court, federal administrative agency II. State court system d. US supreme court e. state supreme court f. state...
Words: 566 - Pages: 3
