Deana Cuconits, Sandra Siladji and Raelene White in collaboration with Peter Cavouras
What is Justice?
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Kids in Court video clip

6/12/2014

1 Comment

 
Having watched the clip I would like to make a few comments to point out some of the differences between what is shown and South Australian courts.
In South Australia, the person who calls on the particular case (or matter) to be heard is called the clerk (in a Magistrate's Court) and Associate (in a higher court).
They do not use a gavel or say order, but simply announce the arrival of the magistrate or judge by saying, 'Silence, All stand...'
In a Magistrate's Court the Clerk takes on the role of court reporter as well as other duties while Court Reporters are used in higher courts and record information via a steno machine (pictured in the clip), shorthand (though this is less common now) or via listening to a recording of what has occurred and then typing this information at a later stage.
Witnesses do take oaths or make promises to tell the truth in court and generally sit near the court reporter.

cheers Peter
1 Comment
Peter Cavouras
9/9/2014 03:25:47 pm

What is Justice: what do we want to learn?

In looking at this page in the student work samples section of the site, I thought it might be useful to answer some questions for you.

Cases are normally won by the side that presents the best argument and the most believable version of their story. Winning is a relative term as a win could be anything from a not guilty decision to not having a criminal record (conviction) noted fro an alleged offence. Verdicts by a jury or a judge or magistrate are difficult, but often depend on the quality of the information provided to the court. Having reached a verdict, one of the difficult things for a judge or magistrate to then do, is to determine a penalty or consequence. Here, they can be guided by decisions in previous similar cases, but they are also guided by the law.
It can be very stressful, but this is part of the job and as human beings, people deal with stress differently. Some judges for example, say the easiest thing to do is to send someone to prison as all the information presented in court points to such a result. Others say it is stressful to balance the needs of community protection and rehabilitating the offender, especially given that there are so many things to consider.
In a general criminal court in the Magistrates Court there are usually 2 police prosecutors, but there can be others who are responsible for a particular case.
Guilty means you did it and you admit to it.
Defendants are persons who are accused of crimes or wrongful behaviours.
Trials are conducted where an accused person says they are not guilty and through two opposing sides presenting their case an umpire makes a decision. Trials also occur in non-criminal matters for example, two people arguing about who is at fault in a car accident or the level of responsibility of a manufacturer for injuries from faulty goods or produce.
I read somewhere that on average around 84 000 criminal cases occur each year. This does not mean they are all trials however. Copy and paste the following link to see examples of statistics available in relation to courts.

http://www.courts.sa.gov.au/OurCourts/CourtsAdministrationAuthority/PerformanceStats/Pages/default.aspx

The religious books that oaths are taken on are the bibles from the relevant religion in question.

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    Deana Cuconits, Sandra Siladji and Raelene White
    Middle Years Teachers from Parafield Gardens R-7 School

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