What Is the Court System In Australia?

The system of law can be a determining factor in how the citizens of a country behave towards and show respect towards the law.

Many countries are always embroiled in conflicts, civil wars, and law and order there is usually a fight for survival and protecting innocent citizens. However, in a mature and developed country like ours, law and order is respected and Australia is said to be one of the safest places in the world.

Our law and order system is quite mature and strong in implementation, perhaps this is the effect of the money we pour into our system along with the strict requirements we have for people who can or cannot serve on the judiciary or any of its branches.

In spite of all the good work that has gone into our judicial system, there are still calls for us to change from the Adversarial to the Inquisitorial system of justice. I will talk about the systems and give an overview of their pros and cons and then talk about if we should change the system or not, what is to be gained, what can be lost.

The Adversarial system has its roots in the idea where two opposite sides are pitted against one another. There is one side supporting the accused and the other side trying to prove him as guilty. The main idea is that the two sides being pitted against one another are going to lead to the truth.

The judge has the role of facilitating the procedure of law and pit the opposing sides against one another while maintaining decorum and respect for the law. However, it is left entirely on the sides on how they want to present their case and what they do in their research. This system is used widely across the world and is prevalent in the US, UK and Australia.

In the inquisitorial system, the judge is the main person and practically the whole system is dependent on how he investigates the case. If the judge is good, he can find out the truth completely and sort out the case, while if he cannot find out the fact, then the case might never be sorted out.

He can take help of the law and its branches or agencies like the police etc, but the onus of solving the case and finding the facts lies on him. This kind of system is primarily used in France. The system has its benefits as you are pitting a skilled investigator to solve the case and putting the system of the law in the hands of some hand picked highly professional and competent people.

However, the first thing that comes to mind is the fact that this system is easier to manipulate as its very easy for a rich person who is accused to at least ‘try’ and pay himself out of the position, as there is only one major person that he has to corrupt. While in an adversarial system, the opposition is paid to have the accused sent to jail or punished for his or her crimes.