1. The Criminal Justice System Flashcards
What is the court heirarchy
Hight court Supreme Court (appeal) supreme court (trial) county court -koori court magistrate's court -children's court -coroner's court -koori court, sentencing
fairness
fairness involves impartial treatment surounding processes and procedures for all people under the law without fear or favour
fairness factors
- equal opportunity to hear information
- impartial judge/jury
- appropriate sentence
fairness words
- unbiased
- impartial
- consistent
- known
access
access involves the provision of a range of resources and institutions to settle disputes within the legal system
access factors
- dispute resolution bodies and methods
- legal personnel
- legal information
access words
- locate
- understand
- opportunity
equality
equality involves the provision of equal legal opportunitie and equal treatments for all citizens under the law
equality factors
no disadvantage because of characteristics or circumstances
legal system
a legal system is made up of a set of rules, procedures and bodies that make up and enorce laws
-they aim to achieve social cohesion and help everyone live together harmoniously
the australian constitution
- came into effect jan 1 1901
- commonwealth of australia constitution act 1900 (uk)
- establishes the framework for our parliament and its law-making powers
constitutional monarchy
a constitutional monarchy is a system of government in which a monarch is the head of state
statute law
law made by the parliaments
-debate and pass laws for the peace, order and good government of the community
statute
a law passed by a state parliament or the commonwealth
bill
a proposed law which is debated and passed by a majority of members in both houses of parliament
common law
law made by judges through decisions made in cases
criminal law
an area or body that protects the community by establishing and defining what laws are
crime
an act or omission that: -breaks an existing law -is harmful to an individual or society as a whole -is punishable by law crimes act 1958
the rule of law
the principle that everyone in society is bound in law and must obey the law, and that laws must be clera so that people want to obey them
the rule of law upheld by
- clear and accessibility of laws
- courts and judges must be independent
- the law being equally applied to everybody
- presumption of innocence
purposes of the criminal justice system
- deciding whether an accused is guilty of an offence
- imposing a sanction
reason for lack of unified criminal justice system
power to make laws about crime is left to the state, not federal parliament
jago statement
the right to a fair trial is not limited to just the trial itself
dietrich statement
a lack of fair legal representation when defending an indictable offence may result in an unfair trial
summary offences
- minor criminal offences that are generally heard in the Magistrate’s court
- summary offences act 1966 (vic)
indictable offences
serious criminal offences heard by a judge in the county or supreme courts of victoria
-generally, crimes act 1958 (vic)
indictable offences heard summarily
serious offences that can be heard and determined as a summary offence if the court and accused agree
burden of proof
the responsibility of a party to prove a case
-in a criminal case, bop is on the prosecution