Question
Explain difference between the following court systems and their role in government ;Criminal,Civil,Trial,Appeals,Courts of last resort,Courts of general jurisdiction,Courts of specific jurisdiction
Sample paper
Court systems
Every country in the world has an arm of the government that is usually known as the judiciary. This arm of the government has the duties and responsibilities of interpreting the laws made by the legislature to ensure there are justice and fairness in that particular country. The court’s system in most if not all countries in the globe interpret and applies the law on behalf of the state. Moreover, the court systems also provide a mechanism and ways for settling disputes through various methods such as negotiation, mediation, and the court system. In countries that have both federal and state governments such as the United States, the court system comprises of both state and federal courts, tribunals and all administrative bodies (Langton, 2007). This paper attempts to differentiate various court systems as well as stating their roles in the government.
- Criminal – there is no one single country in the universe that can claim that it does not witness criminal activities in the country and that is the main reason as to why the criminal court system is important in each and every country. The criminal court system consists of agencies that provide processes and policies that are usually adopted by the government or the administrative organ in the country to curb criminal activities as well as punishing all criminals by imposing penalties. There is no single best way that criminal court works, and they all depend on the rules and regulation in their area of jurisdiction. A criminal court system helps to minimize criminal activities in a country.
- Civil court system – usually, courts systems are a dividend by what they handle. The Civil court system is tasked with handling legal disputes that do not fall under the criminal court system. All attorney, judges, and law firms have to choose one particular legal dispute that they specialize in, but it needs not to fall under criminal law. An example of non-criminal law includes patent law and divorce law. In these legal disputes, there is no prosecution by the government, unlike criminal law(Nicholson, 2008).
- Trial – through this system, the accused and the plaintiff have a chance to present their evidence in the case at hand and then the judge and the jury makes his decision regarding the case presented to him by the evidence presented. Cases are first heard for the first time in trial courts, and the jury can determine whether there is a case or not.
- Appeals – Appeal court system gives a chance to the accused to have his decision reviewed if he or she feels that the jury or the judge was unfair or too harsh in their judgment. However, the appeal court systems do not open a new case but rather listens to oral arguments to arrive at a decision.
- Court of last resort – the Supreme Court which is the most powerful court is usually regarded as the court of last resort. It has the power and mandate to listen and decide crucial issues on the constitution and statutory law and provides clarity in case of any confusion. Its decision is final and cannot be challenged.
- Courts of general jurisdiction – courts of general jurisdiction have the power and mandate to listen to all types of courts regardless of their nature as long as they are not prohibited by the laws of a country or state. Such courts help to loosen congestion that may be witnessed in other courts because it can deal with all kind of cases(Fowler, 2009).
- Courts of specific jurisdiction – specific jurisdiction arises from the defendant having particular lowest contacts with the forum state so that the court can proceed with its hearing whose issue may arise from minimum contacts
References
Fowler, F. C. (2009). olicy studies for educational leaders: An introduction. . Allyn & Bacon/Pearson..
Langton, L. &. (2007). State Court Organization, 1987-2004.
Nicholson, P. (2008). Borrowing court systems: The experience of socialist Vietnam. Melbourne Law School Research Paper Series,, (352).
