Courtroom Procedures PDF

## 3.2 What happens in a courtroom? **LEARNING INTENTION** By the end of this subtopic, you will be able to explain what courts do and how they work. ### 3.2.1 Guilty or not guilty? Courts interpret laws and settle disputes. A person who has been charged with a criminal offense may have his or h...

## 3.2 What happens in a courtroom? **LEARNING INTENTION** By the end of this subtopic, you will be able to explain what courts do and how they work. ### 3.2.1 Guilty or not guilty? Courts interpret laws and settle disputes. A person who has been charged with a criminal offense may have his or her case heard by a court. It is up to the court to decide if the accused is guilty or not guilty. Let us look at what happens when a criminal matter goes to trial before a court. Courts can be tense places. The decisions made in them can have an enormous impact on people's lives. Courts and the officials who work in them deal with real-life dramas. The main courtroom officials include a magistrate or judge, jurors, a prosecutor and counsel for the defence. Each state and territory has its own independent system of courts, with different courts at different levels. Courts are often referred to as higher or lower courts. **FIGURE 1 In the courtroom** * A The judge's associate is a trained lawyer who manages much of the paperwork. * B Anyone whose name is on the electoral roll can be called as a juror. In a criminal case, the jury consists of 12 people. The jury must decide beyond reasonable doubt whether a person is guilty. All the jurors have to agree. * C The prosecutor has to convince the jury that the accused person is guilty. This is done by asking questions of witnesses to draw out relevant information. * D The judge is addressed as 'Your Honour'. He or she listens to arguments presented by the prosecutor and the counsel for the defence, and is not allowed to ask a witness questions (except to clarify a point). The judge has to make sure jury members understand the proceedings and evidence presented. If a jury announces a guilty verdict, the judge decides the sentence. * E The counsel for the defence represents the accused. If the accused pleads guilty, the counsel for the defence presents arguments to try to lessen the punishment. If the client pleads not guilty, defence counsel must convince the judge or jury that the client is innocent. * F The tipstaff helps the judge keep order in the court. * G Witness box, from which people give evidence * H Members of the public, who listen to and observe the court proceedings * I A prison officer from the prison where the accused has been held * J The accused * K Members of the media, who observe proceedings so they can report what happens ### 3.2.2 Lower courts Most people charged with a criminal offence will have their cases heard in a magistrates court (called the Local Court in New South Wales, the Magistrates' Court in Victoria and the Magistrates Court elsewhere). These lower courts are more informal than the higher courts. There is no jury, and magistrates do not wear a wig or a robe in court. However, people still need to address the magistrate as 'Your Honour' as they do in the higher courts. **jury** a group of ordinary people randomly selected to hear and assess the evidence in a court case After hearing the cases presented by both sides, the magistrate decides whether a person is guilty or not guilty. If a person is found guilty, the magistrate decides the consequence. This is known as the sentence. A magistrate will refer very serious criminal offences to a higher court. ### 3.2.3 Higher courts The states and territories all have a Supreme Court, which hears the most serious criminal cases. All the states except Tasmania have a District Court, although the equivalent court in Victoria is referred to as the County Court. The District or County Court hears serious criminal matters (except for the most significant cases), including murder and treason. At the beginning of a criminal trial in a higher court, the accused is asked, 'How do you plead?' A jury of 12 people may be selected to hear the trial if the response is 'Not guilty'. The jury's role is to listen to the evidence and decide whether the accused is guilty or not guilty. If the verdict is not guilty, the accused is free to leave the court. If the verdict is guilty, then the judge decides the sentence. ### 3.2 ACTIVITIES 1. Ask your teacher to organise a class excursion to a local court. While you are there, draw a floor plan of the court and label where all the officials are located in the room. Note their role in the court. Write down some of the facts you hear for each case. 2. Find a news article that reports on a criminal case in an Australian court. Summarise the key facts of the case, taking note of who the judge or magistrate was, what the charge was, any decision made and any other court officials mentioned. 3. In groups of three or four, develop a 30-second TV advertisement for a law firm that defends people charged with serious crimes such as murder. ### 3.2 EXERCISE 1 To answer questions online and to receive immediate feedback and sample responses for every question, go to your learnON title at www.jacplus.com.au. ## **What happens in a courtroom?** 1. List the main courtroom officials in a serious criminal trial. 2. How are magistrates and judges addressed in court? 3. How many jurors are there for a criminal case? 4. What is the jury's responsibility in a criminal trial? 5. The system of courts for each state or territory is referred to as a hierarchy (like a ladder). Construct a diagram showing the hierarchy of courts for your state or territory. Put the highest court at the top and the lowest court at the bottom of your diagram. 6. In most states of Australia, a person can be found guilty by a jury only if 11 of the 12 jurors (a majority verdict) or all 12 jurors (a unanimous verdict) conclude that the accused is guilty. Why might this be hard to achieve? ## 3.3 The presumption of innocence **LEARNING INTENTION** By the end of this subtopic, you will be able to explain what presumption of innocence is and why it is important. ### 3.3.1 Innocent until proven guilty If you were in trouble at school, you would hope that your teacher or principal would believe your claim that you had done nothing wrong. You would expect that you or your classmates would be treated as innocent until it could be proved you or they had actually done the wrong thing. In the same way, most Australians expect that when they go to court they will be presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. But does this actually happen? The presumption of innocence is a belief that we have inherited from English law. It means that all accused people who appear before a court in Australia are presumed to be innocent until the prosecution proves that they are guilty. Not only are they presumed to be innocent, but they can only be found guilty if the court is reasonably certain that the accused person committed the crime. This means that the magistrate, judge or jury must believe that the accused is guilty *beyond reasonable doubt*. The prosecution has the *burden of proof* in a criminal trial. **presumption of innocence** the principle that all accused people who appear before a court are presumed to be innocent until the prosecution proves that they are guilty **beyond reasonable doubt** the standard of proof required in a criminal trial where the prosecution must prove that the accused is guilty to such a high degree that a reasonable person would have little doubt that the accused committed the crime **burden of proof** the legal principle describing who has to prove a case in court. In a criminal trial, this burden is on the prosecution. ### 3.3.2 Presumption of innocence around the world The presumption of innocence is contained in article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). This means that it is seen as very important across the world. Many nations – including the United States of America, France, Italy and New Zealand – recognise this principle. ### 3.3.3 Presumption of innocence and bail Observing the presumption of innocence means that if a person is charged with a criminal offence, they may be granted *bail* by a magistrate or judge. Bail is the promise that an accused person makes to appear in court at a later date. It allows the accused to go home to wait for the trial, rather than stay in custody until he or she must go to court. Sometimes bail will have conditions attached, including the payment of money, surrendering a passport, remaining at the same address or reporting to police. Bail usually applies only to serious cases. **bail** the promise that an accused person makes to appear in court at a later date In some cases the court may suspect that an accused person who is charged with a serious crime might not turn up to court, or might be at risk of causing danger to the public. In this case, bail would be refused and the accused would be detained (held in custody) until the trial. **FIGURE 1** Unlike in this image, the presumption of innocence suggests the accused should not be handcuffed when appearing in court unless he or she presents a risk to other people. **FIGURE 2** Arguments for the presumption of innocence * The presumption of innocence means that the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that a person has committed the crime they are charged with. * Without the presumption of innocence, the police could arrest and imprison you for no reason. They would only need to think that you did something wrong and they could arrest you! Imagine walking around every day with the fear that you might be accused of breaking a law and that you would not be presumed to be innocent. * We need this principle to protect us. It is far better to let one or two guilty people to go free than to lock up innocent people. After all, most people are law-abiding citizens. **FIGURE 3** Arguments against the presumption of innocence * The presumption of innocence allows every accused person to clog up our courts and gives legal people too much work to do. It is a loss of both time and money. * There is also the risk that a person accused of a serious crime might go into hiding or commit another crime before the trial begins. * We should do more to help the police deal with troublemakers instead of making it easier for criminals to avoid consequences. * Any victim of crime would tell you that people who are charged with crimes are too protected. They would also tell you that the police are honest and do a good job. So if the police do charge someone with a crime, they must be pretty sure that the accused actually committed that crime. ## CASE STUDY ### Presumption of innocence — on your bike Queensland introduced new laws in 2013 to target the illegal activities of gangs, including criminal bikie gangs. The laws are commonly referred to as 'bikie laws'. A list of declared criminal organisations was prepared. New offences were created, including members of a criminal gang gathering in groups of three or more, visiting locations like clubhouses or a banned event, and recruiting for their organisations. The laws have been criticised for going against the principle of the presumption of innocence. Steven Smith, Scott Conley, Joshua Carew, Paul Lansdowne and Dan Whale were arrested and detained in custody in December 2013, following a meeting at the Yandina Hotel. They were alleged by police to have links to the Rebels motorcycle club. Joshua's wife, Tracy Carew, said her husband had been locked up for delivering a pizza to the other men. 'These boys aren't guilty of this crime, they haven't been proven guilty. They haven't been put in front of a jury and deemed guilty yet,' she said. Mrs Carew told the media that the men were placed in solitary confinement awaiting their court hearings. Joshua Carew, and some of the other men, were released from custody under bail conditions in mid-January 2014. **FIGURE 4** Joshua Carew and other men were arrested due to alleged association with the Rebels motorcycle club in Queensland. They were held in custody for an extended period of time without trial. ## DISCUSS Discuss the idea that everyone is presumed to be innocent, regardless of the seriousness of the crime of which they are accused. Do you think that a person charged with mass murder, for example, should have the right to presumption of innocence, or should he or she lose access to this right? Be prepared to justify your opinion. ## 3.3 ACTIVITY The media is expected to avoid news coverage that undermines the presumption of innocence. However, there are many cases where the media has ignored this principle. Charges made against Martin Bryant in 1996 are one example. Find out more about what the media did before the Bryant case went to court. ## 3.3 EXERCISE 1 To answer questions online and to receive immediate feedback and sample responses for every question, go to your learnON title at www.jacplus.com.au. ## **The presumption of innocence** 1. List some countries that believe in the presumption of innocence. 2. Define the term 'beyond reasonable doubt'. 3. What is bail and when can it be granted? 4. Examine FIGURE 1. In what way does this image undermine the principle of the presumption of innocence? 5. Read the case study in this subtopic, 'Presumption of innocence — on your bike' and consider FIGURE 4. Joshua Carew was held in solitary confinement for approximately six weeks before a bail hearing in the Supreme Court. Briefly outline what this suggests about the attitude of the Queensland Government towards the presumption of innocence principle. 6. What might happen if an accused person went to court and was put on trial without the presumption that they were innocent? 7. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the principle of presumption of innocence.