Legal Method and Systems

This document provides an overview of the legal method and systems in the English criminal legal system. It discusses the process of criminal cases, the role of the jury, and their function in criminal trials. It also explores the debate on whether juries are the light by which democracy shines or an undemocratic haphazard legislative. The document includes references for further reading.

Legal Method and Systems

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PART A...........................................................................................................................................3
A brief outline of the facts of the criminal case that has been observed. It must include the
Defendant, the charges and the stage of the trial which has been observed................................3
PART B............................................................................................................................................4
2. Explain the current jury process in the English criminal legal system including how juries
are selected and their function in criminal trials. Also, are juries the light by which
“democracy shines” or are they ‘an undemocratic haphazard legislative’?................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Law is one of the most significant aspect for any of the nation as it helps to perform any
of the task in systematic manner. It is necessary for all of the individual to follow the guidelines
of legislation and in any of the circumstances they fails to do so, then legal penalty can be
imposed. English Legal System is based on two different legal systems i.e., Criminal Law and
Civil Law where each of the branches have their courts to deal with any of the cases which arise
in front of them. In criminal law, the court only discusses those cases which are non-bail-able in
nature and for protecting the right and interests of common people, criminals are kept within the
jail till the date of the judgment given by judges. In the case of the civil case, the person who is
found guilty are being punished but a person has the option to get bail as it one of the bail-able
offense. In the context of the file, various topics will be explained how any of the criminal cases
are entertained within the court. Also, the process of the jury will be explained how any jury is
selected for taking any of the particular decision.
PART A
A brief outline of the facts of the criminal case that has been observed. It must include the
Defendant, the charges and the stage of the trial which has been observed.
A criminal cases can be charged only when an individual violence the criminal law which
is against the society or community. In a criminal case, an individual can be charged with a
felony, misdemeanor, or a summary offense. Criminal cases are the cases that are entertained
within three different courts and they are magistrates court, Crown Court, Youth Court. In
magistrate court, there are two to three judges are required but there is no requirement of any
jury in magistrate court. One of the famous cases is “The murder of Ben Kinsella” where a gang
of black teenagers in Islington, London. It was one of the cases where the whole of the media
was focusing on the case1. There were three different defendants in the case and they are
Alleyne, Kika, and Braithwaite. All of the three defendants were given the punishment of
lifetime prison.
The main thing which is needed to be understood that the case which has been imposed
on all of the three defendants is a murder case2. The jury, in this case, observed that it is one of
the illegal activity which has been performed by them and if there were any of the issues which
1 (Ben Kinsella stabbing: London 'still unsafe', says siste. 2018)

they were facing from the side of Ben then they must have informed the police. The main reason
to give lifetime prison to every criminal is to improve their activities for a better future and
provide justice to the innocent one.
The Role of Crown Court in this particular case is that firstly they must pass the order to
arrest the criminals due to which problem has raised. Then, it is required to understand what was
the main reason behind attempting the crime. Then, the lawyer is required from both the side i.e.,
defendant and plaintiff who can entertain the case by expressing the points that what were the
main reason so that case related to murder have occurred. Now, the jury will be required to focus
on every point which can help to declare the better result. This is the whole process which is
needed to be understood and how any of the Crown courts declare their decision to provide
justice to the innocent one.
PART B
2. Explain the current jury process in the English criminal legal system including how juries are
selected and their function in criminal trials. Also, are juries the light by which “democracy
shines” or are they ‘an undemocratic haphazard legislative’?
In the English Criminal Legal system, it has been found that all of the decision is needed
to be taken by the jury who represents the court. The jury has the role to take the decision and
judge who is wrong and who is right. The whole of the case is judged based on proving and
pieces of evidence presented by lawyers and police. The jury's task is to evaluate the evidence
and determine whatever the case's real facts are and what did happen3. To attain a decision, the
judge will give jury guidance on relevant legislation that the jury must relate to the details of the
case. When it is a criminal trial as well as a decision of convicted has been issued by the jury,
therefore the court will decide on an appropriate penalty. In civil cases, the role of juries is to
determine what money in compensation must be distributed.
While the jury in the penal system is quite significant, they are still only dealing with a
minority of cases. In criminal justice, only legal advice is taken from that but the final decision
2 Svetlana Boshno, 'MEANS AND METHODS OF LEGAL REGULATION' (2014) 3
Law and modern states.
3 Mark Coen and Jonathan Doak, 'Embedding Explained Jury Verdicts In The English
Criminal Trial' (2017) 37 Legal Studies.

doesn't need to be based on the suggestion given by them. It is the responsibility of judges who
have the final authority to declare the result as they will decide that what is the suitable decision
as per the situation arises in front of them. In the present situation, the role of a jury has been
almost ended as there is no requirement to take their help because it directly or indirectly
increases the time to declare the decision and even sometimes chances of arising conflict
automatically increases in it. To become a member of juries, a person must fall under the criteria
of Juries Act 1974. It is one of the law which gives complete guidance that what are the essential
steps which must be taken for being eligible to become a member of Juries. Also, the candidate
must be a member of the justice court in past years where they have declared the number of
decision-related to different topics.
According to “Dernbach and et. al., 2017”, there are several cases where the court
requires the help of the third person who can guide what can be the best decision which is needed
to be declared. In this situation, juries are the one who helps to declare the best possible decision
through which punishment can be given to the wrong one. Juries directly give the idea to any of
the courts that what is right and wrong which allows taking suitable decisions. The main benefit
of juries is that judges of court will not require to take off any of the wrong decision which helps
to develop the life of that particular person. The main benefit of the jury system is that persons
are not required to suffer from any sort of problem and even people can easily have faith. The
main faith is that people will not have to think that decisions that are taken are right and helpful
for the common public.
Democracy directly shines because they are the ones who represent the court where they
mainly deal with criminal cases. They can easily help to bring out a better outcome and even it
will generate the concept that strict actions are being taken against the criminal person. It will
allow customers to deal with any of the cases that occur daily. the main concept which has been
developed by the jury is how the general public can be benefited4. Below, some of the points
have been discussed that how any of the juries can help to attain the goals of an organization.
 Burden will be reduced: The burden on the person who is not guilty will reduce because
their activities will be cross verified from the jury where the opinion of many people will
be given at a single time.
4 Dawn Oliver, Constitutional Reform In The UK (Oxford University Press 2016).

 Fair Decision: It will directly have an impact on bringing on the positive result as
multiple options will be available who will not allow any of the person to take any of the
wrong decision5.
These are some of the points which can easily prove that the jury is a democracy shine
rather than undemocratic haphazard legislative. Also, above mentioned rules and regulations are
needed to be followed by any of the courts to allow any of the candidate to become a member of
juries.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the file that the Legal system is one of the most important
factors to declare any of the decisions to sort out the case. There are different types of court and
according to the level of criminal case areas if the case is related to theft, robbery then the
magistrate court handles the case and when it comes to murder, rape then crown court handle
whole of the case. The decision in any of the cases is required to be given by the jury who takes
charge of the whole case. In any of the nations, whenever any of the juries give their fair
decisions then democracy automatically shines.
5 'The Scottish Legal System' (2016) 9 Legal Information Management.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Boshno S, 'MEANS AND METHODS OF LEGAL REGULATION' (2014) 3 Law and modern
states
'The Scottish Legal System' (2016) 9 Legal Information Management
Coen M, and Doak J, 'Embedding Explained Jury Verdicts In The English Criminal Trial' (2017)
37 Legal Studies
Oliver D, Constitutional Reform In The UK (Oxford University Press 2016)
Online
Ben Kinsella stabbing: London 'still unsafe', says siste. 2018. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-44535127/>
The Judicial System of England and Wales A visitor’s guide. 2018. [Online] Available Through:
<https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/international-visitors-
guide10a.pdf/>