ipl-logo

Scottish Justice System

1567 Words7 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Summary of the main acts in the scottish criminal justice system uk esssay

The Scottish justice system is great in many ways — however — flawed in many ways. Here, I will pick apart the accuracy of the quotation and analyse the Scottish justice system as well as taking a brief look at some other justice systems amongst the world.

“There can be little doubt that we have one of the best systems of justice in the world. That each case is examined according to its individual merits is hallowed principle of our system practised since time immemorial…”

Adversarial Legal System v Inquisitorial Legal System

Criminal or civil, inquisitorial or adversarial, it is not feasible to insist that one or the other of the justice system models is unquestionably the “best” in comparison to another. These systems grew to fit financial, …show more content…

It is regarded that the lawyers role is the opposite of the judge. Justin Peck puts it as: “The lawyer is active, the judge is passive. The lawyer partisan, the judge neutral. The lawyer imaginative, the judge reflective.”
The Scottish adversarial justice system is creeping towards a more inquisitorial justice system. This is a result of the decreasing age limit when you can become a judge. A junior judge can gain their status as early as in their 20s in countries with an inquisitorial system. Recent improvements in dispute processing have been proclaimed to be transferring away from the adversarial system.
Within an inquisitorial model, the judge has a more ‘hands on’ approach which sets it apart from the adversarial model. Each case, civil or criminal, is brought about by the parties (as they are in adversarial countries) — however — the judge is not confined to the facts of the case or confined by the legal issues presented to them. The judge can interrogate witnesses and put forward arguments in just a way that a lawyer can.

Case Transformation / Case …show more content…

Increasingly, sentences and penalties are not being decided based on the individual, but in compliance with ‘actuarial justice’ using fixed scoring methods. This further disproves the claim that each individual case is treated as its own.

“…Individual cases are the product of a fair yet stern contest between two parties battling for the best interests of those they represent…”
The Relationship between the Lawyer and the Client
From the beginning of the 1990s consecutive governments have sought to control spending and attempted to make the Scottish justice system faster, easier and more economical. To do this the initiated a new scheme that included a system of fixed payments to solicitors. Eventually the solicitors gathered that if they spent less time on each case a greater income would be generated through the new scheme. The consequence of this was less preparation for both civil and criminal cases. This meant that lawyers were not driven by their clients best interests and more invested in their own financial takings. Furthermore, in the American tort system lawyers may be awarded more than their clients. Maureen Cain’s research claims that lawyers don 't fight for their clients best interests, they are purely interpreting their

Show More
Related
1235 Words | 5 Pages

After listening to both sides present their case the judge will issue a ruling on the defendant’s

Read More
886 Words | 4 Pages

As O’Brien analyzes this transition it can seem as though the modern Justices are just trying to put their work off on other people. However, this just merely scratches the surface of what’s actually going on. The growing importance of law clerks over time not only reflects the growth and expansion of the United States as a whole but also shifts in how our society functions. As a result, the Court has had to take on more responsibility, while also changing the way they approach their jobs. There is no doubt that the Supreme Court has become more institutionalized since its founding, due its growing caseload.

Read More
583 Words | 3 Pages

Although she ended up spending months in jail, the arguments against her conviction on the legal terms of a change in jury member were not only heard out, but accepted, resulting in her freedom. (122). Although she faced unideal consequences under the law, as the jail time and fear of execution were certainly detrimental, they were far less severe than those that would have been expected. Compared to other women accused in other areas, Disborough’s legal consequences were notably light. She did, however, face more harsh consequences from her peers and fellow citizens.

Read More
334 Words | 2 Pages

In the case of Tara Brown’s murder, various groups of individuals are affected. As well as maintaining principles of fair punishment and deterrence, the criminal justice system has to consider perceptions of the victim’s family (secondary victim), the community’s demand for crime prevention, and the offender’s rights to a fair court hearing. The most likely outcome is imprisonment for Lionel John Patea due to committing an indictable offence. It is important to note that if this was only a case of domestic abuse without murder, it would utilise more time, effort and expenses to come to a resolution. This is due to the different circumstances and degree of abuse that the judge has to assess.

Read More
710 Words | 3 Pages

Rosenberg first gives rough definitions of the "Dynamic Court" and the "Constrained Court," which he considers the two possible views to be held about the court system's influence, though he believes both are over simplifications by themselves. The "Dynamic Court" sees the judiciary "as powerful, vigorous, and potent proponents of change" (Rosenberg 1991, 2). Proponents this theory alone believe the courts have great power and influence to effect social change, but Rosenberg believes the 'mystification' of the judicial system has given this view more allure than truth. Under the "Constrained Court" theory, courts are "weak, powerless, and ineffective for change," have little power nor influence to

Read More
852 Words | 4 Pages

On the 14th of October 2011, Mr Rayney had submitted an application for a trial which only involved a judge without a jury present. This was due Mr. Rayney assuming that a strong bias had been manifested pre-trial as a result of the subjective publicity revolving around the death of his wife, Corryn(The Conversation, 2012). Therefore, the jury and any member of the public would already have preconceived views in favour of Mr Rayney being guilty of murdering his wife. The trial was successful for Mr Rayney where he was acquitted of murdering his wife. Similarly, this issue is somewhat common as it had also occurred in the case Evans v The State of Western Australia [2011] WASCA 182, in which both appellants had made appeals after being convicted for murder.

Read More
692 Words | 3 Pages

The parties decide what evidence to present, what witnesses to call, and how to question them. The judge is to be a neutral during the process and uphold the principles of fairness and equality, although he does make determinations of fact and law. The adversarial system is usually found in places with a common law system. In an inquisitorial hearing, the judge has a more prominent and active role in regards to evidence and questioning the witnesses. The inquisitorial system is typically found in places with a civil law system.

Read More
1415 Words | 6 Pages

David Feige’s Indefensible: One Lawyer’s Journey nto the Inferno of American Justice invites people from all walks of life to a second hand experience of the criminal justice system hard at work. What is most interesting about Feige’s work is its distinct presentation of the life of a public defender in the South Bronx. Instead of simply detailing out his experiences as a public defender, Feige takes it a step further and includes the experiences of his clients. Without the personal relationships that he carefully constructs with each of his defendants, Feige would not be able to argue that the criminal justice system is flimsy at best, decisions always riding on either the judge’s personal attitudes or the clients propensity towards plea bargaining.

Read More
773 Words | 4 Pages

Lawyers also decide what is relevant in court, rather than letting parties decide what they believe to be relevant. Because of this, victims lose participation in their own case. Christie also discusses the types of segmentation and their effects on modern law. I agree with Christie’s views of modern law in regards to reduced participation of parties, the presence of too many specialists, and his view on segmentation. I agree with

Read More
723 Words | 3 Pages

The criminal justice system is responsible for delivering punishment to breakers of the law, and according to Professor Colin S Diver, the criminal justice system derives its authority with a reliable “moral credibility” (Diver 5). However, the Norsefire methodology of delivering justice is not one that exhibits a

Read More
1046 Words | 5 Pages

(2) A person sentenced to imprisonment to life for the crime of murder is to serve that sentence for the term of that person’s natural life. The fact that Katherine Knight was sentence to life imprisonment for the murder of John Price reflects society’s standards in that nobody should get away with taking somebody else’s life, especially in the way in which Katherine did. 6 THE EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM IN ACHIEVING JUSTICE Once Katherine Knight pleaded guilty to the murder of John Price, the court was able to sentence her quite efficiently once all evidence was heard. The efficiency of this case and also the fact that Katherine Knight received the harshest penalty possible in Australia for her horrific crime shows how justice was achieved.

Read More
1000 Words | 4 Pages

An impressionistic evidence is provided in the survey of litigation costs by Professor Hazel Genn. It was determined that the value of claims and costs of prosecution are disproportionate, especially at the monetary baseline; in the cases worth less than £12,500, 31 % of the successful party’s costs were between £10,000-20000, further with a 9% of incurring costs . The figures look bleaker when one considers that half of the cases ended with a consent order and one quarter by judgement. Among claims of value between £12,500 and £25,000, the percentage of claim value range from 41% among personal injury to 96% among Official Referees cases . These figures are representing the costs of winning party, the cases that went to trial, and were settled.

Read More
998 Words | 4 Pages

The Woolf reforms introduced significant changes to the civil justice system as they sought to deal with the problems of cost, delay and complexity that wrought the civil justice system prior to his recommendations. Significant changes were implemented after Lord Woolf’s Access to Justice in 1996. His recommendations form the basis of important changes to civil litigation. In an attempt to reduce the cost of litigation and encourage the early settlement of disputes, Woolf introduced the use of pre-action protocols, the track system and encouraged the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Part 36 offers to settle.

Read More
1472 Words | 6 Pages

In this paragraph, the advantages and disadvantages of trial by jury will be discussed. The main advantages are that juries introduce community values into the legal process and can influence the system (Joyce, 2013); they can achieve a sense of equity and fairness without enforcing unjust laws; in addition, juries are independent and neutral (Davies, 2015). Moreover, they guarantee participation from the public in a democratic institution (Hostettler, 2004), and represent the population thanks to the randomness with which jurors are decided (Davies, 2015). On the other hand, the most important disadvantages are that jurors have no prior contact with the courts, no training (Hostettler, 2004) and therefore they lack knowledge of law, courtroom proceedings (Joyce, 2013), and lack of ability to understand the legal directions (Thomas, 2010). Moreover, they must face evidence which is highly technical (Hostettler, 2004).

Read More
1049 Words | 5 Pages

Also the judge makes sure every lawyer gets a fair opportunity to explain their points about their case to the jury. The jury finds you guilty or not guilty and sometimes the jury 's verdict is overturned by the judge at other times he accepts their verdict. In most civil cases there are no juries and the judge decides everything based on the evidence presented to the court by the lawyers. Solicitors Solicitors main job is to provide advice clients on how to proceed with their matter.

Read More

More about Scottish Justice System

Related Topics

Open Document