English Legal System and Skills - Essay Example

English legal system and skills May 7, English legal system and skills One of the objectives of law is to ensure law and order through determining disputes. The judicial system plays a key role in litigations by evaluating cases and determining guilt and liability. The process can be formal, involving a judicial officer and legal counsel or can be informal, conducted through a jury. A jury trial involves evaluation by a section of the public, but with guidance of a judge on matters of law. Even though juries may offer a verdict that is not consistent with evidence or legal principles, the jury should be retained because its process its process identifies credibility in determination of guilt.

Jury selection is one of the features that identify its credibility in determining guilt. A random approach to selection reduces potential bias due to conflict of interest among decision makers, unlike in a formal court process in which a presiding judge or magistrate can be predetermined or compromised. Jury selection from the entire population makes it difficult to predetermine the final list of jurors. Juror selection process also provides for exclusion of people with certain traits, which could threaten credibility.

Individuals who are under community service sentences and those awaiting trial can be excluded and this eliminates their potential bias due to their condition. People with suspected mental incapacitation or disorder can also be excluded and this eliminates possible irrationality. A jury service can also be deferred if a member of the selected jury faces a technical schedule and this ensures stability of jurors during decision-making. In addition, a juror can be challenged, as occurred in the case of R v Gough, or even an entire jury, as was in the case of R v Fraser, in order to eliminate threat of bias.

A vetting process also follows jury and ensures suitability of each juror for the task.1 (123-130) Advantages of the jury trial also support significance. It involves the public and is therefore likely to gain support from the people than formal proceedings. The public can also easily associate with jury trial and accept its verdict, a factor that is also significant to the correctional objectives of the criminal justice system because convicts are likely to accept their verdicts. The law may also contradict fairness and jury ensures equity instead to strict adherence to the law.

In the case of R v Ponting, in which the accused was guilty under law but whose action had good intentions, acquittal was justified because of political stake that could take advantage of the law to charge Ponting for exposing a wrong act. In such a case, the law would support injustice, unlike the jury. The layperson approach of the jury is also likely to derive an accurate sentence, especially on matters of facts that the formal process in which legal expertise may identify and utilize weakness of law to undermine justice.

Challenges such as lack of legal competence to implement objective of law, possible coercion and bias, high cost, however, face the legal approach.2 (130-139) Jury trial is an informal approach to adjudicating legal cases. It may offer contrary judgement to law and evidence, is susceptible to coercion and bias, and is costly. However, its selection process and its advantages identify credibility and equity that the formal process could undermine and these show that it should not be abolished.

Reference list“Juries.” Juries. n.d. Accessed May 7, 2015. http://www.philipallan.co.uk/pdfs/txtlawas08.pdf.