Trial Court Research Articles

Is Justice by Zoom Justice Denied?: Judicial Stakeholder and Legal Advocate Experiences of Video-Mediated Trial Courts in Washtenaw County

Is Justice by Zoom Justice Denied?: Judicial Stakeholder and Legal Advocate Experiences of Video-Mediated Trial Courts in Washtenaw County

Evidentiary powers of the trial court regarding public-law disputes in the Russian Federation

The paper presents the analysis of the content of the evidentiary powers of the trial court regarding public-law disputes in administrative proceedings of the Russian Federation to improve the model of their exercise by the general courts for correct and timely consideration and resolution of public-law disputes between citizens, organizations against unlawful acts of public bodies. It considers the key directions of improvement of the mechanism of evidentiary activity of courts on public-law disputes regarding the recognition of evidence inadmissible, procedure for allegations on falsification of evidence to ensure effective protection of the weaker party on public-law disputes, to create a good-faith attitude among the participants of public-law relations, and to prevent new public-law disputes. Taking into account the analysis of the content of the evidentiary powers of the trial court in public-law disputes, the paper concludes on the criteria for classifying the evidentiary powers of the trial court in public-law disputes under the Code of Administrative Procedure of the Russian Federation, active role of the trial court in their implementation at various stages of administrative proceedings, main directions for improving the mechanism for exercising the evidentiary powers of the trial court in verifying the allegations on falsification of evidence submitted by the parties and taking measures to declare the evidence inadmissible.

Public Hearings

An array of Tunisian lifeworlds in 2016.
 For the Egyptian counterpart, see Court Trials.

Court Trials

An array of Egyptian lifeworlds in 2016.

„Dziedzictwo prawne. Spotkania naukowe”. Sprawozdanie z posiedzeń naukowych w roku akademickim 2020/2021

“Legal Heritage: Scholarly Meetings.” Report on Scholarly Meetings in the Academic Year 2020/2021 In the academic year 2020/2021 the Jagiellonian University Faculty of Law and Administration initiated a series of scholarly meetings devoted to legal heritage. Nine meetings were held, during which eight papers were presented. They were prepared by the following researchers: Dr. Jakob Maziarz (Department of the History of Polish Law of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Jagiellonian University) on “The freedom of scientific research, the freedom to use cultural goods and access to archival materials”; Dr. Bohdan Widła (Department of Intellectual Property Law of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Jagiellonian University) on “Protection of scientific or critical editions and first editions”; Dr. Jan Halberda (Department of the General History of the State and Law of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Jagiellonian University) on “Estoppel in Anglo-American private law. The Rise of High Trees (1947) as the ‘Precedent’.”; Dr. Mateusz Mataniak (Laboratory of Source Publishing of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Jagiellonian University) on “Archival materials for history of the Government of Galicia (1854–1914) from the resource of Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine in Lviv. Contribution to research on Polish legal heritage.” Jan Bazyli Klakla (PhD student at the Department of Sociology of Law of the Faculty of Law and Administration and the Institute of Sociology of the Faculty of Philosophy of the Jagiellonian University) on “Is customary law like an onion? A multi-layered approach to customary law and its status in the modern world”; Dr. Hab. Katarzyna Krzysztofek-Strzała (Department of History of Administration and Religious Law, Laboratory of Religious Law and Law on Religious Denominations of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Jagiellonian University) on “Between the letter of the law and the law in action. Office for Religious Affairs practice towards churches and religious associations”; Dr. Anna Ceglarska (Department of the History of Political and Legal Doctrines of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Jagiellonian University) on “The concept of the ‘rule of law’ in presocratic Greece”; Prof. Piotr Górecki (University of California, Riverside Department of History) on “The course of events in Polish and German law court trials in medieval Poland. A comparative sketch”.

Dyferentsiatsiia provadzhennia v sudi pershoi instantsii za Statutom kryminalnoho sudochynstva 1864 roku

The provisions of Statute of criminal procedure devoted to the differentiation of criminal proceedings in the court of first instance are analyzed in the article. The author accentuates that the current criminal procedure legislation of Ukraine has inherited a lot of progressive ideas implemented by Statute of criminal procedure; in particular, it contains a number of differentiated procedures for criminal proceedings in the court of first instance. In fact, Statute of criminal procedure provided for three types of criminal proceedings: ordinary, simplified and complicated, as well as some peculiarities in certain categories of proceedings. Simplified procedure was provided for the consideration of cases of minor criminal offenses — in proceedings before a magistrate (there were signs of private prosecution) and proceedings in absentia in the court of first instance. In addition, such a procedure included an abbreviated judicial investigation, which is carried out in the general order of the trial (summary trial). A complicated procedure took place in the trial court with the participation of jurors, which separated the powers of the jury to pass a verdict and the judge — to pass sentence. The criteria for distinguishing between proceedings according to the degree of complexity of procedural forms were: the nature and severity of the criminal offense, the ratio of private and public interests, as well as the category of cases that could be considered by a jury. The Statute of criminal procedure also contained exceptions to the general procedure of criminal proceedings, which provided for peculiarities in certain categories of proceedings (in cases involving the clergy, the military, state crimes, official crimes, etc.). The criteria for distinguishing such features were: the status of the accused (clergy, military), as well as the category of cases (for crimes against religion and others related to violation of church rules, for state crimes, for official crimes, for crimes in administrative management sphere).

Onus and Quantum of Proof for Breaching the Standard of Procedure during the Movement Control Order

The objective of this research paper is to highlight on the issues relating to the onus and quantum of proof for breaching the standard of procedure (SOP) during the movement control order (MCO) due to Pandemic Covid 19 in Malaysia. In tackling the issues, the research methodology applied by the author is by analysing and evaluating some decided cases, studying the substantive laws, regulations, and procedure in enforcing movement control order. The contemporary legal issues in this article are on whom the onus (burden) of proof lies and what is the quantum (standard) of proof required for the offence of breaching social distancing during the movement control order, be it conditional, restricted or recovery. The standard of procedure always changing based on the types of movement control order made by the Federal Government. In the New Straits Times dated 4 April 2021, it was reported that 17 publics were compounded for not practicing social distancing. Many questions raise as what is the real meaning of social distancing? In which type of offence, the social distancing offence lies on? What are the elements that will constitute the offence? As to the remedies, the author has submitted the nature of the offence for breaching the SOP during MCO. The expectation result of this paper is to give a clear picture as to the matter of standard of proof and burden of proof that to be considered by the trial court in deciding the issue of breaching SOP. The significance of this paper is to point out some contemporary identical legal issues relating to SOP during MCO. The issues will be highlighted in this article.

Teatralność procesu sądowego: kilka uwag o profesjonalizmie

The aim of the paper is to answer the question: what image of a professional role does the vision of a court trial as a theatre contain? In carrying out such a task, first of all, I will present the reasons that justify comparing the theatrical practice to a court hearing. When carrying out this procedure, I will pay attention to the concept of role, the ritualization of activities, the architecture of space, and functions of the role performers’ clothing. From these findings, a dramatical vision of a court trial emerges, modelled on a theatrical performance. It assumes that the performing of a role by the actor and the judge or the lawyer is largely defined by factors external to the interpreter. Such an approach to the exercise of the profession can be related to the dramatic vision of the role in Erving Goffman’s theatrical metaphor. In this perspective, it is assumed that exercising a role is a performance that can lead to two images of the professional ethos. They are characterized by an attitude of identification with the role and an instrumental distance to the profession. I intend to question both of these views. By carrying out this task, I will show that presenting a court trial as a theater does not have to assume the image of a judge, a lawyer whose task is to develop the ability to adapt to the rules of the profession and faithfully reproduce them in the cases under consideration. In presenting this position, I use the findings of theatrologist Jerzy Grotowski and the anthropological research of Victor Turner, focusing on the idea of liminality.

Statistical Analysis on Dowry Cases in India

It has been seen from the last decade that the misuse of un-exempted provisions of dowry law been increasing and in result the other party is facing the world with great loss. A long delayed case of dowry has been pending in district courts just due to clashes of hard provisions of law and lack of evidences. Even just after the complaint a woman can claim and complaint of other additional things as a right of wife like maintenance which leads to makeable financial burden on man irrespective of his financial and social position. Women use the weapons called Section 498A and Dowry Act to file a false complaint so as to attack their husband. Section 498A of Indian Penal Code is a provision under which a husband, his parents, and relatives can be booked for subjecting a woman to cruelty to meet their unlawful demands (dowry). Generally, the husband, his parents, and relatives are immediately arrested without sufficient investigation and put behind bars on non-bailable terms. The NCRB’s ‘Crime in India’ report categorizes crimes various heads of the IPC. If one looks at the respective conviction rates of all the categories, cases registered under Sec 498-A (Cruelty by Husband & Relatives) have one of the lowest conviction rates. In 9 out of these 10 years, the conviction rate of Sec 498-A cases was in the bottom three. This study concentrates on the effects of misuse of dowry law on man which has always been neglected. In India the trial courts are just filling their duty by giving dates of hearing and due to this delay the husband and his family members are paying which deteriorates their life without any fault. This research aims to count the loss of man and his family on monitory and social term specially the cases pending long before the trial courts.

The Financial Crisis on Trial: What Went Wrong

Americans demanded retribution from the mortgage lenders whose subprime loans defaulted and from investment bankers whose mortgage-backed securities sharply declined in value in 2007, leading to financial panic and the Great Recession. From 2008 to 2019, the federal government extracted hundreds of billions in fines from dozens of corporations, but few individual business executives were held accountable, and no senior banker was convicted of a crime. I use the trial court record of five government enforcement cases against individuals to explain this apparently anomalous result. I conclude that, in addition to a lack of funding, the prosecution effort was hindered by the government’s erroneous selection of cases to pursue. Further, the diffused nature of decision making in the mortgage finance market made it difficult to prove that any one senior-level participant had the criminal intent necessary for a conviction or a Securities and Exchange Commission civil fine or injunction. The trial results also support the argument that the growth and consolidation of investment banks from 1990 to 2008 created incentives for misconduct within the firms.

Translated Transcripts From Covert Recordings Used for Evidence in Court: Issues of Reliability

Nation states increasingly apply electronic surveillance techniques to combat serious and organised crime after broadening and deepening their national security agendas. Covertly obtained recordings from telephone interception and listening devices of conversations related to suspected criminal activity in Languages Other Than English (LOTE) frequently contain jargon and/or code words. Community translators and interpreters are routinely called upon to transcribe intercepted conversations into English for evidentiary purposes. This paper examines the language capabilities of community translators and interpreters undertaking this work for law enforcement agencies in the Australian state of Victoria. Using data collected during the observation of public court trials, this paper presents a detailed analysis of Vietnamese-to-English translated transcripts submitted as evidence by the Prosecution in drug-related criminal cases. The data analysis reveals that translated transcripts presented for use as evidence in drug-related trials contain frequent and significant errors. However, these discrepancies are difficult to detect in the complex environment of a court trial without the expert skills of an independent discourse analyst fluent in both languages involved. As a result, trials tend to proceed without the reliability of the translated transcript being adequately tested.

Section 24(2) in the Trial Courts: An Empirical Analysis of the Legal and Non-legal Determinants of Excluding Unconstitutionally Obtained Evidence in Canada

Section 24(2) in the Trial Courts: An Empirical Analysis of the Legal and Non-legal Determinants of Excluding Unconstitutionally Obtained Evidence in Canada

Digitization of Civil Legal Proceedings in the Russian Federation

This work is an analysis of legal trends in the administration of justice and the judicial system of the Russian Federation. Among the main trends, the authors observe an increase in the number of civil cases considered on the merits by both commercial courts and general jurisdiction courts. The authors also analyze some opportunities for increasing the level of integration of digital technologies in the legal environment of the Russian Federation. One of the triggers capable of catalyzing this process is the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the transformations in the administration of justice that require online court trials using the Internet are analyzed, and some foreign experience in implementing such a format of court trials is considered. The authors also assess in this article the impact of judicial reforms in 2019 on the dynamics of the administration of justice.

Phrasal verb vs. Simplex pairs in legal-lay discourse: the Late Modern English period in focus

Abstract The present paper attempts to describe the divergences between nearly synonymous phrasal verb/simplex pairs from court trials dating back to the Late Modern English period (LModE). The intention was to evaluate the effects that each verb form might exert in discourse, interpreting the lexical choice as functionally linked to the contents of the legal-lay discourse, that is the discourse between lay people and professionals in the courtroom (Heffer 2005: xv). Research to date has highlighted how the choice of one form or another needs to be explained in terms of register and degree of expressiveness (Bolinger 1971: 172; McArthur 1989: 40; Hiltunen 1999: 161; Claridge 2000: 221). However, no studies have yet evaluated the difference between phrasal verbs and simplexes from a phraseological perspective, or reflected on how their use is functionally linked to the communicative needs in courtroom settings. The study was conducted on the Late Modern English-Old Bailey Corpus (LModE-OBC), a self-compiled corpus that covers the century 1750–1850 and that includes a selection of trials drawn from The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, London’s Central Criminal Court.

Increasing The Efficiancy Of Trial Courts In India

Increasing The Efficiancy Of Trial Courts In India

Applying an auction optimization algorithm to mobile edge computing for security

The great demand for mobile blockchain computing power is often unsatisfied by terminal devices, so computational tasks are offloaded to edge computing servers. This paper proposes a new mobile communication blockchain assumption, forms a computing power alliance (CPA), and builds a smart contract-based security model. First, mining difficulty compensates for the personal computing power outside the CPA to increase the block generation difficulty. Second, contract account funds are used to increase the cost of malicious nodes seeking to launch forking attacks, and the duration is used to limit mining. Finally, a court trial is opened to select validators to verify the fork. The auction algorithm is used to allocate computing power in the CPA, and a price utility function is constructed to maximize social welfare. The joint optimization algorithm increases the transaction price and improves the system security. Simulation results verify that the system security increases with the blocked funds and duration, and the forking attack success rate approaches zero as the number of validators increases. The proposed algorithm provides considerable sum utility and average revenue gains versus traditional methods under different numbers of mobile users and computational capabilities, and the security of the algorithm is also higher.

Compensatory justice to the victim of a crime and judicial practices in India: An empirical study

The Constitution of India guarantees that justice shall be delivered to all. The duty to ensure that justice delivery is accessible to all is entrusted to state bodies. The legislature is expected to ensure that the legal framework is there, the executive is expected to ensure that all infrastructural needs of the justice delivery system are in place, and the judiciary is expected to ensure that justice is delivered in their area. This paper deals with the issue of delivery of victim justice, with a special focus on compensatory mechanisms laid down under the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973. The Code empowers the courts to award compensation to the victim of a crime to ensure his/her rehabilitation. In light of the observations made by the Supreme Court of India that the trial court judges do not exercise their discretionary power under the relevant statutory provisions to award compensation to the victims of a crime, this paper explores the extent of such failure and the reasons behind it.

Forensic analysis on printer inks via chemometrics

Printer inks are becoming necessary for utilization for wide range of purposes by society in current times with rapid development in technology and digital media area. Thus, forgery and counterfeiting becoming easier for the criminals. It is dangerous as some criminals will misused the technology by mean of addition and adulteration of parts of text or numbers on document as the inks and document can be made as an evidence in the trial court. Thus, the characterization and differentiation of the printed inks in the suspected documents (civil or criminal cases) may provide important information about the authenticity of the printer inks. The focus of this study to differentiate the chemical component of three different types of sample inks by incorporation of FTIR spectrophotometer with principal component analysis. The unique features of the ink samples were unmasked from the score plots of the principal component analysis. Thus, the graphical representation provided by the FTIR spectra with principal component analysis enabled the discrimination certain chemical in the printer inks.

“I haven't come a long way, and I'm not a baby”: Task assignment and diversity of the Supreme Court bar

AbstractObjectiveGender disparities in litigation task assignment are not limited to the trial court context; they are present in even the highest of courts in the United States. We explore and seek to explain the gendered patterns of participation by lawyers arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court.MethodsAfter quantitatively describing participation by female attorneys in Supreme Court litigation, we use logistic regression and fractional logit, respectively, to identify factors that influence the degree to which women deliver oral arguments and participate in writing litigant briefs.ResultsDescriptively, we find that male attorneys present more oral arguments than female attorneys, and most litigant briefs are written by male‐dominated teams. In fact, more than a third of the briefs are only signed by men. In multivariate analyses of Supreme Court oral arguments and briefs, we find that women are more likely to argue and sign briefs on issues in which they are stereotypically perceived as more competent (women's issues) and less likely to participate in issue areas where they are perceived to be less competent, like economic issues. Similarly, women are less likely to orally argue in complex cases.ConclusionWhile occupational segregation and other factors may play a role, the participation of female attorneys in this forum is likely driven, in part, by stereotyped assessments of their competency.

Sanksi Hukum terhadap Anggota Polisi yang Melakukan Tindak Pidana Pembunuhan

The police are essentially government institutions and functions that are engaged in maintaining public security and order. The number of temptations causes the police to commit violations or criminal acts. This study aims to understand the legal arrangements against police officers who commit crimes and examine legal sanctions and legal rules that regulate problems in legal arrangements against police officers who commit criminal acts and forms of legal sanctions against the crime of murder. The research method uses normative legal research with a statutory and conceptual approach. Sources of legal materials consist of primary legal materials and secondary data. Data collection is done by reading the law on the police. Data analysis was carried out by case studies namely; the legal materials obtained in the research were processed and analyzed, and presented in a descriptive-analytical manner. The results of the study indicated that legal arrangements for police officers who commit murder crimes, where violations of the code of ethics have consequences, will be tried by the commission of the professional code of ethics. The legal sanction is that a police officer who commits a crime will be processed through a general court trial, undergo sanctions, and undergo a code of ethics trial with dishonorable dismissal. The imposition of disciplinary sanctions is decided in a disciplinary hearing for members of the police who violate police discipline and code of ethics