Legal Studies
4- Effectiveness of the Law
4.1- Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Law in Achieving Justice for Individuals
4.1a- Equality
One of the most important aspects of our legal system is the concept that everyone is equal before the law. There are certain aspects that result in a lack of equality.
The fact that our legal system is adversarial is a major contributor. Because the nature of our legal system is competitive and confrontational, it is designed to determine where laws have been broken so punishment can be dealt out. The legal teams employed are also seeking for winning cases, gaining reputations and are willing to project selective facts of a case only in order to win. Therefore, our system is not designed to seek the truth and equality is not achieved for the individual (offender).
Plea bargaining is another factor that promotes inequality for the individual (victim) and offender. For the victim, they are not being provided with the justice they seek for the offenders. Plea bargaining may not be always used to that people who commit the same crime may be treated differently if one is enters plea bargaining.
Young people and Indigenous Australians are other groups for whom the legal system seems unfair. Both groups do not understand their rights and the relationship between these groups and the police create a prejudice that these groups are likely to be doing something illegal when most of the time they are breaking no laws.
4.1b- Accessibility
The criminal justice system must be accessible to all members of society for it to be fair. However this is hindered by:
Cost
To achieve justice, people need to mount a proper case and this costs money. Legal rep is not a problem for the wealthy who can afford their own legal rep and for the poor who are eligible for legal aid. Anyone who has a really good chance of winning their case and has a small income has a high chance of getting legal aid.
To
4.1- Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Law in Achieving Justice for Individuals
4.1a- Equality
One of the most important aspects of our legal system is the concept that everyone is equal before the law. There are certain aspects that result in a lack of equality.
The fact that our legal system is adversarial is a major contributor. Because the nature of our legal system is competitive and confrontational, it is designed to determine where laws have been broken so punishment can be dealt out. The legal teams employed are also seeking for winning cases, gaining reputations and are willing to project selective facts of a case only in order to win. Therefore, our system is not designed to seek the truth and equality is not achieved for the individual (offender).
Plea bargaining is another factor that promotes inequality for the individual (victim) and offender. For the victim, they are not being provided with the justice they seek for the offenders. Plea bargaining may not be always used to that people who commit the same crime may be treated differently if one is enters plea bargaining.
Young people and Indigenous Australians are other groups for whom the legal system seems unfair. Both groups do not understand their rights and the relationship between these groups and the police create a prejudice that these groups are likely to be doing something illegal when most of the time they are breaking no laws.
4.1b- Accessibility
The criminal justice system must be accessible to all members of society for it to be fair. However this is hindered by:
Cost
To achieve justice, people need to mount a proper case and this costs money. Legal rep is not a problem for the wealthy who can afford their own legal rep and for the poor who are eligible for legal aid. Anyone who has a really good chance of winning their case and has a small income has a high chance of getting legal aid.
To