ADVERSARIAL & INQUISITORIAL SYSTEMS

Question 1

What legal system does Australia use?

Answer 1

The Common Law Legal System
or
The Adversarial System

Question 2

Main features of the Adversarial System?

Answer 2

1. Used in Australia.
2. Used in common law countries such as England, Australia, India, Canada and the United States.
3. Relies on the skill of representatives to represent each side (e.g.. defence and prosecution lawyers to present the case)
4. Presents the case to an impartial decision maker or to a third party (the judge/magistrate and sometimes jury)
5. Courts act impartially

Question 3

Main features of the Inquisitorial system?

Answer 3

1. Used in some countries which have civil legal systems e.g. Indonesia
2. The court of judge actively conducts the trial
3. The court or judge determines what questions to ask
4. The court is actively involved in determining the way competing claims are presented

Question 4

The other name for Adversarial System is …?

Answer 4

The Common Law Legal System

Question 5

Define impartial.

Answer 5

The treating of all disputants equally.

Question 6

Which court’s system of law acts impartially?

Answer 6

The Common Law Legal System
or
The Adversarial System

Question 7

Which court’s system of law actively conducts the trial and determines which questions are to be asked?

Answer 7

The Inquisitorial System

Question 8

Where did the idea of common law originate from? Why do certain countries have it?

Answer 8

Common law originated from Britain, and spread to British colonies such as Australia, Canada, India the United States and of course, Britain.

Question 9

Where did the idea of the civil law system come from? Why do certain countries have it?

Answer 9

Countries following a civil law system are typically those that were former French, Dutch, German, Spanish or Portuguese colonies or protectorates, including much of Central and South America. Most of the Central and Eastern European and East Asian countries also follow a civil law structure.