The adversarial system in England and Wales Essay Example for Free

The adversarial system in England and Wales Essay The adversarial system of law involves a prosecutor defending his/ her clients in the court of law in the presence of a jury. The jury’s role is to make decisions that will be used in passing the sentence. In this system, the lawyers determine the rulings that are passed. â€Å"Lawyers play a central role in presenting each sides case (Mallenson 11). †This is because their intelligence in solving disputes will determine the sentence passed. Therefore, justice will be served when a prosecutor convinces both the judge and the jury that their defendant is innocent. The accused is not mandated to give evidence but should they choose to defend themselves, they will be cross examined by both parties. In England, the adversarial system is overly institutionalised. The prosecutor has to convince the jury beyond reasonable doubt that the accused committed the crime. The rule of law entails that the law enforcement agents can only make decisions and exercise their duties when as the law suggests. The rules of revealing evidence are developed based on the laws of England and Wales. The rules in this case give the judge limited power. Hence the roles played by judges in the adversarial system are passive since their duties are to ensure that both parties comply with the court rules and they will give direction on the way forward when disputes arise. The adversarial system, the rules of evidence are strict and the stand of prosecutors should be based on facts. For this reason, the cases are well prepared as prosecutors conduct intensive and extensive investigation prior to the court proceedings. The jury is also supposed to be impartial such that they represent what they consider as the truth so as to enable justice to be served. The adversarial system ensures fair trial as the state is not biased against the defendant. Key principles which govern the behaviour of advocates for the prosecution and the defence For advocates to perform well there are certain principles which they must follow. The key principles are the Expediency principle and the legality principles. The expediency principle also called opportunity principle which ensures that prosecutors need to be well disciplined and discrete so that they can represent the defendants impartially. This means that they are not supposed to handle cases just because they have been presented to the courts but because they want to bring about change and help justice take its course. The legality principle ensures that prosecutors have enough, reliable and valid evidence especially in the early stages. Moreover, the prosecutor is not supposed to be influenced by outside forces (Fionda 8). The key principles are father enhanced by other principles some of them are: The prosecutors should treat each case uniquely and not relate it to similar cases before. They must be fair, independent and should not be influenced by anyone or anything, they have to work in the interests of promoting fair justice and not to fulfil their personal ambitions, they have a responsibility of guiding and advising investigators whenever possible. They also review cases and ensure all evidence is presented to the courts. The prosecutors work is to assist the courts to reach a proper and fair sentence that is backed by sufficient evidence and facts so as to assist the courts to come up with a valid conclusion. They will do this by looking into various matters such as making sure they are conversant with the guidelines on the court procedures with regard to the case; do background research on the victims which will include if they have faced any previous charges. They will also need to make sure that there are fewer barriers that will influence their investigations for instance restraining orders. The prosecutor therefore is useful to the courts because they may tell the court how the victim should be sentenced depending on the crimes they have committed. This is because they prepare a plea and Sentence document before sentencing and they present it to the courts. The prosecutors will therefore ensure fair trial by following up court proceedings by constantly reviewing what is presented to the courts as correct and relevant. Fair trial is also furthered when they address new cases afresh by looking into all the supporting evidence so that they can argue their points in court. In enhancing equality, they do this by making sure that they are not influenced by other people or their personal feelings getting in the way of their work and they will present wrong judgements. They also make sure that the court legislators are informed of what is expected from them as they are constantly advised on the areas where they have doubts. â€Å"Adversarialism will only be valid if both sides are equally matched and every party is treated equally (Ian K, 4). † Presumption of innocence is the state of being considered innocent until the court says you are guilty. This is a right that every accused person is entitled to. The prosecutors therefore are the ones who help the courts prove that a person is ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty’ beyond any reasonable doubt. The courts refer to as the burden of proof and will only take place when there is evidence. And the prosecutors do this by collecting and presenting the evidence. If the prosecutors or the court has doubt in the evidence presented, the prosecutors will have to be given extra time so that they present what is correct.