Courtroom Skills Flashcards
What are the two types of witness?
Professional and expert
What does a professional witness do?
They witnessed the accident, present at the time/scene
Could include police officers or forensic scientists who gathered physical evidence
What is an expert witness?
A person specialised through education/qualifications/experience who is accepted as an expert by a judge
Gives interpretation of evidence
Who else can give evidence?
Civilians
What must all witnesses remember?
They are unbiased
Their duty is to the court
Who hired an expert witness?
Legal professionals/detective/police
Who can’t hire an expert witness?
A litigant person- someone involved in law suit
Must be unbiased
What must the expert witness make?
A written report supplying evidence
What should a written report consist of?
Short biography of author(s) (assistants must be included)
Listed info
Assess quality of references
Is it a high powered study?
What mustn’t you do when writing a report?
Guess
As opposition can argue against you, affects credibility
What types of cases can you have in England?
Civil
Criminal
What is the order of courts (of seriousness) for a criminal case
Magistrates court
Crown court
Court of appeal
Supreme Court
What is the order of courts you go to in order of seriousness for a civil case??
County court
High court of justice
Court of appeal
Supreme Court
Who are solicitors?
Legally qualified, can form partnership or join law firm
Generally act in lower courts
Who are barristers?
England
Have completed law degree and bar exam
Self employed and generally specialised
Act in higher courts (queens council)
What is the Scottish term for barristers?
Advocate
Who are silks?
Generally eminent lawyers (barristers/advocates) who have obtained an extreme reputation
Appointed by queen on suggestion by the lord chancellor to be one of her majesty’s council learned in the law
What happens in a magistrates court,
3 people, no legal training or pay
Clark of Court present
What does the Clark of court do?
Legally trained to advise magistrates
What does the prosecuting solicitor of the magistrates court have to do?
Prove that the offence was committed, that the defendant did it
Go through correct procedures
Has to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that the suspect is guilty
What does the defence solicitor in the magistrates court have to do?
Merely challenge the evidence
What does the Supreme Court do?
Doctrine of precedence
No witness or jury box…everyone around the table
High legal people that make a case into law without changing the law
What does the coroner court do?
Legally but not medically qualified
Decides the cause of death but do not appoint blame
What does Scotland have instead of the coroner court?
Sheriffs court
