English legal system course work ID 1414686
My visit on the 15/12/14 at the Croydon magistrate court was to observe the court proceedings and how the civil and criminal justices system operates in England and wales. Also how magistrates and judges decides cases and why they arrived at certain decision. I arrived earlier in court pass the security checks and went in the court office and explain my purposed of visit. I attended court number eleven which was very busy with cases that day. Court commence at exactly ten in the morning, the presiding magistrate Mr Knowles and two other magistrates, they are also known as justices of the peace, section 121 magistrates court Act 1980. The two other magistrates are Miss Gostic and Miss
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After reading the charges against the defendant, the presiding magistrates ask the defendant if he understanding the charges against him. And also if he is going to plead guilty or not guilty. In this cases the defendant entered into an early plea of all the charges against him.
Early plea in any cases in the UK and Wales is very significant. One it quick, it’s save time and money Wolf Report. The magistrate then commence sentencing hearing. He first consult the court assistance and in sentencing the magistrate has to consider the guide line sentencing council 2010. Because of this cases is an early plea case, the magistrate has to consider the gravity of the case and the circumstances of the accuser. In carrying out the sentencing the judge told the defendant that the offence he committed was enough to send him to prison, but because he pleaded guilty he will reduce his sentence to twenty months of not drinking any vehicles in the United Kingdom and Wales he should also be given two years’ probation period. In this time he should not committed any crime or be seen in any crime scene. He will be arrested and send to jail if he break his probation rules. Normally in this types of case the defendant should have been sentence to at least six months in prison but because of the early plea and the circumstance of the defendant that makes the magistrates to give him lesser sentences. Another very important thing in this cases was, this is the first time the accuser has
Then is arraignment and the plea which once an indictment has been returned or information has been filed, the accused will be formally arraigned. The purpose is to once again inform the defendant of the specific charges against him or her and to allow the defendant to enter a plea. The defendant has the chance enter a plea of guilty, not guilty, or nolo contendere. Then there is
For this criteria I will be producing a written evaluation of the effectiveness of magistrates and juries in the administration of justice in the English legal system.
On my court visitation I observed a breach of DVO and bail conditions case, at the Beenleigh Magistrates Court, on Tuesday 15th. The Beenleigh Magistrate sits on the bottom of the Australian legal hierarchy of courts. Most criminal and some civil cases are first heard here. The purpose of this court is if an individual is charged with a criminal offence, they must be brought before the Magistrates Court. The role and responsibilities of the court personnel, is to decide if there is enough evidence required for
The court is the second component of the justice system – once the suspect is arrested, s/he is referred to as a defendant. It is now up to the court to decide if the police had enough evidence for probable cause for arrest – if the determination is positive, then the defendant gets an opportunity to plead innocent or guilty. Once the court establishes that the defendant is innocent, s/he is released; on the other hand if the defendant is found guilty the court decides the type of punishment and then the defendant is turned over to the Corrections for the follow up of the punishment.
An arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal charge document in the presence of the defendant to inform him of the charges against him. In response to an arraignment the accused is expected to enter a plea. Acceptable pleas vary among jurisdictions, but they usually include “guilty”, “not guilty”, and “nolo contendere”
In this task I will write a report about comparing the roles of judges, lawyers and lay people within the English courts.
You will be told what you are being charged with and you will then give your plea of guilty, not guilty or no contest. If you plead guilty, you have to explain what you did in detail and why you committed the crime. If you ever have another trial, this can be used against you at a later time. You may also be entitled to a plea bargain. A plea bargain is granted, you may get out with a lesser charge than what you were originally charged with, or a lesser punishment. If you have more than one charge and plead guilty, the prosecutor may even drop the other charges. If a plea bargain cannot be agreed upon, the defense and prosecutor will come up with an agreement together and the judge will then have to agree or disagree with what he or she thinks is best. If you plead not guilty, you will go to a criminal trial. Then you have the no contest plea, which is kind of admitting to the charge, but not taking any responsibility for the crime. An example would be getting a speeding ticket for going 55 in a 35 and pleading no contest in court and getting off with just paying a fine. If you plead no contest once in a criminal case, you cannot use it
The criminal trial process is an interesting process that takes place in Courtrooms all across the United States and throughout the globe. This study intends to set out the various steps in the criminal trial process in the American justice system. A trial is described as a "legal forum for resolving individual disputes, and in the case of a criminal charge, it is a means for establishing whether an accused person is legally guilty of an offense. The trial process varies with respect to whether the matter at issue is civil in nature or criminal. In either case, a jury acts as a fact-finding body for the court in assessing information and evidence that is presented by the respective parties in a case. A judge presides over the court and addresses all the legal issues that arise during the trial. A judge also instructs the jury how to apply the facts to the laws that will govern in a given case." (3rd Judicial District, 2012)
After the arrest, arraignment will follow. This is the presentation of charges in an open court. During this stage, you need a lawyer to represent you in court. You have the choice to enter a not guilty or guilty plea. You need to discuss your situation with your attorney, to determine the best course of action to take. This is also the stage when your Utah Criminal Defense Lawyer talks to the prosecutors to negotiate for a plea bargain. Usually, accepting a plea bargain will require you to plead guilty to a lesser crime in exchange for a lighter sentence.
Under S.21 of the Magistrates Court Act 1980 if the magistrates’ decide the case is suitable for trial on indictment then it basically informs the accused that the case is going to the crown court where the judge and jury will decide the outcome of the case. The case shall proceed in relation to the offence in accordance with S.51 (1) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. The magistrates can refuse the case, if the offence committed is too serious to be dealt with in the Magistrates Court and can only be heard at the Crown Court, or accept to deal with the case.
He believed it was not in anyone's interest that he be institutionalised but did he go too far in giving him such a lenient sentence. There was little to no consideration public safety as no one in his crimes were hurt but did the judge considered that there is potential for the problem to develop tradjectly. It is evident that Mr Jones has many drug and driving convictions what happens when those two are one day combined drug use in anyway makes driving a danger to the communities safety. Offending on this volume shows one thing that Mr Jones has a very little regard to authority and for the rules. Considering all this I believe Mr Jones was right in considering his rehabilitation he is a 28 year old man who had the worse upbringing but I believe no good can come from him being realised in 6 months as he has already served 6 months of his 12 month non parole period. I believe for the community to be safe Mr Jones must be completely weaned off drugs so I believe the non parole period should be extended to 2 years which with the time already served would be 1 year and 6 months in a low level security prison. Extending his sentence will enable Mr Jones to be completely off of drugs and allow him to continue his auto mechanical course he had previously started which will offer him a better chance of rehabilitation as it will allow him to generate a
They deal with cases like murder, rape, and robbery plus cases that are passed up from magistrate’s court.
A guilty plea is very consistent with a defendant having to plead guilty with one or more crimes that are being charged. Then the court is agreeing to accept upon the plea of admission to sentence the defendant. A guilty plea occurs when a defense counsel has bargained with a prosecutor and has obtained some indulgence. The defendant has the right to plead guilty without a prosecutor’s agreement; the defendant would plead to all the crimes charged (McCoy 192). They believe that a plea will “persuade the leading judge to inflict an indulgent sentence.”(“Free Legal Resources”)
It was revealed by a survey carried out by National Consumer Council how unhappy and unsatisfactory people were with the Civil Justice System. The main weaknesses identified were that the system being too slow, too complicated for ordinary people to understand and too outdated and costly. In the continued criticism of the system Lord Woolf was appointed by the government who finally came up with suggestions and solutions to overcome these problems. As a result Civil Procedure Rules came into force on 26th April 1999 introducing different reforms to the system. The rationale of the reforms was to avoid litigation and promote settlement between the parties at dispute. Among the most popular reforms were, Pre-Action Protocols, Part36, Judicial Case management, the use of single joint experts and Alternative Dispute Resolution. The overriding objective of the reforms as set by Lord Woolf was enabling courts to deal with the cases justly and proportionately.
Following the arraignment of the accused, and where a plea of not guilty is entered, the accused is open to be tried by a jury made up of his peers. At this point it is said that he is put in their charge where he remains until such time as he chooses to change his plea to guilty, or until a final determination of his guilt or innocence is returned by the verdict of the jury.