The Legal System And You Flashcards
What are the main officials in a serious criminal trial?
Judge, Jury, Prosecutor, Counsel of Defence, Accused, Witness
How many members are in the jury?
12
What is the judge’s role?
The judge keeps the court in place and is addressed as ‘Your Honour.’ He or she listens to arguments posed by the Counsel of Defence and Prosecutor and makes sure the jury understands all of it. If the accused is guilty, the judge decides the sentence.
What is the jury’s role?
Jurors are chosen by anyone over 18 within the state on an electoral roll. The jury listens to all the evidence provided and decides whether the accused is guilty or not guilty. The foreperson is the person that informs the court of the jury’s verdict.
What is the prosecutor’s role?
The prosecutor is generally a police officer or someone from the police department against the accused. He or she tries to convince the jury that the accused is guilty.
What is the role of the Counsel of Defence?
The Counsel of Defence is generally the accused’ lawyer. If the accused pleads not guilty, the defence attorney tries to convince the jury that the accused is not guilty by asking witnesses questions that lead to relevant information. If the accused pleads guilty, the lawyer must try to say to give them a warning and not to go to jail.
What is the role of the witness?
The witness provides evidence to the court
Who is a bailiff?
A bailiff is a police officer who brings the accused to court from where he or she is being held.
What is the presumption of innocence?
The presumption of innocence is the belief that when an accused goes to court, they are presumed as innocent until they are proven guilty. The court must be absolutely certain that the accused committed the crime and it needs to be beyond reasonable doubt.
What countries recognise the presumption of innocence?
USA, France, Italy and New Zealand
What is bail?
Bail is the permission to leave into the community to wait for an accused’ next trial of not a serious offence. If it is a serious offence, bail will not be granted and the accused would be kept under custody.
What is a fair trial?
A fair trial is when the accused shouldn’t have a biased trial and it should be fair
What is an independent judge?
An independent judge makes sure both sides follow the rules and the judge has no involvement in questioning witnesses. He or she makes sure all the procedures are followed
What is it when both sides have a role?
Everyone is entitled to be treated equally by court and both sides have a right to represent their case. The sides gather evidence and present it to the jury and the independent urge or magistrate. The side with the strongest argument is the most likely to win.
Judge and Jury have no prior knowledge of two case?
This means that the jury shouldn’t know anything about the case and they hear the evidence for the first time in court. The judge must know nothing and must hear the evidence. The jury isn’t allowed to discuss the case with anyone else until the end of the trial.
