GLOSSARY

Crime is a momentaneous thing – it can be planned in advance, committed irrationally without thinking and it can happen for a million reasons. The society wants to see the criminal caught and punished. Justice in this case means determining an appropriate punishment for the crime. To be able to say ‘Justice has been served’, trials are held, statements are taken, evidence is presented.

All courts, criminal and civil alike, have the task of hearing evidence in order to determine the exact details of the case. Civil courts deal with civil cases, where the party, the plaintiff, seeks legal remedy. In England and Wales simple civil cases are usually heard in the Magistrates’ Courts or County Courts. The High Court of Justice, the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords deal with more complex civil cases.

Criminal courts deal with crimes of different nature, from petty crimes to serious indictable offences.

In England and Wales children under fourteen and young persons (minors between 14 and 17 years of age) are tried summarily, without a jury, by a Youth Court. This applies to all cases except homicide.

In the majority of cases, when a person is charged with a crime, the State prosecutes the alleged perpetrator, or defendant. The defendant can plead guilty or not guilty at the beginning of the trial. At the preliminary hearing, the accused person can be granted bail and released on a temporary basis, providing there are no grounds for the judge to believe that the accused would fail to appear for trial, commit an offence or influence the witnesses.

The English justice system is adversarial. Each side in the court proceedings presents their own evidence and can cross-examine or challenge the opponent’s evidence. In the course of the trial, witnesses are called, alibis are checked and evidence is exhibited. In a criminal procedure, a jury made up of twelve people decides whether the evidence presented by the counsel proves the defendant’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt. If the trial is unfavourable to the defendant, their lawyer can advise them to change their plea to “guilty” in the hope of a reduced sentence. At the end of the trial, the jury can reach two types of verdicts: guilty, sentencing the defendant to a corresponding punishment, or not guilty, whereby the defendant is acquitted.