Society and its Attraction to Jury Trial Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Society and its Attraction to Jury Trial - Essay Example Furthermore, the individual jurors, chosen randomly, often face a lot of pressure in the form of intricate and lengthy case proceedings, which are unjustified and often lead to negative impact on the case outcome. There have been issues as regards the jury expertise on objectivity of decisions taken, as some experts argued that jury trials tend to be more emotional or sentimental (hence biased) in nature, rather than being logical, thus, attracting more than the due share of media and society attention.2 In fact, Penny Darbyshire describes the jury system as â€Å"an anti-democratic, irrational, and haphazard legislator, whose erratic and secret decisions run counter to the rule of law.†3 Such problems as pointed by the critics are inherent within the UK jury trial system, leading to demands for bringing in radical reforms in the UK legal policies and for abolishment of this many centuries old celebrated institution of criminal justice. The role of the juries within the legal system translates to the simple fact that legally unqualified people (the layman) are given significance within the highly specialised profession of law, and their assistance taken to provide justice to the public. The chief function of the jury is to listen to the facts presented during the case proceedings and based on these facts produce a verdict (in terms of case resolution within criminal/ civil cases), of guilty or not guilty. This essay will examine the role of the jury and explore the advantages and disadvantages of the system to seek whether Roskill had rightfully claimed that jury trials do not deliver justice, as they are more sentimental and emotionally driven, instead of being logical in nature, and tend to attract more media and society attraction than necessary. Discussion The jury system in UK Jury system in UK has been in vogue for more than 1,000 years, and according to some reports even existed before the Norman Conquest.4 The jury system, thus, always played a s ignificant part in balancing the British legal system. In the present legal scenario, jury independence is given a great deal of importance, where many feel that juries should not be meddled with or pressurised, while deciding a case. The position of the juries as the only arbiters in a case was evident in the famous Bulshell case of 1670, 5 and in the more recent R v Mc Kenna (1960).6 In both the cases, the independent roles of juries were highlighted, where they had acted separately from the judge, while taking a decision. While selecting a jury, an official at the Crown Court selects jurors randomly, from the official data system, and even though only a 12-member jury is needed for a case hearing, more members are generally selected, to provide for any absentee jury members.7 In England and Wales there are three forms of criminal offences, where ‘summary’ offences (ones considered as being of minimal seriousness) can be tried only at the Magistrates’ Court, wi th two to three magistrates in presence.8 Criminal offences that are more serious in nature and categorised as ‘

Anayse how language is used in a couple of texts( opening pages of Essay

Anayse how language is used in a couple of texts( opening pages of Gone with the wind and Romeo and Juliet - Essay Example These elements include phonology, lexis, punctuation, syntax, semantics and pragmatics. By comparing the usage of these elements between two classic texts, such as William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind, evidence can be found in each element of language that demonstrate how the usage of language changes over time and place as well as through dominant format of the communication goals. Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet in 1597 reflecting the Elizabethan values and traditions of England while focusing on the story of a young couple in Verona. In this way, he also incorporates some of the values that were understood in his time to have been important to people of an even earlier time. Mitchell wrote Gone With the Wind in 1936 America reflecting the struggles of the Great Depression and capturing some of the major issues that faced people living in the Civil War south. Like Shakespeare, although she didn’t live during that time period, she incorporates many of the values that were understood in her generation to have been important issues a generation or so earlier. In each case, there is a strong sense of identity reflected in every aspect of the language used. While each novel is written in the same general English language, each illustrates the ideas of love coming to bitter conclusions and each struggles to portray a period of time prior to that in which the author lived, each does so in such a unique way as to make it seem as if they were each written in separate languages all together, which can be teased out by examining the various aspects of language used to tell the story. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare establishes early on a formal and literary tone within the lexis of his text. For example, in the Prologue, he indicates the scene of his play is in â€Å"fair Verona†, a use of the word ‘fair’ that falls within the formal lexicon, especially