Compare the English legal system to that of two other countries

* Solicitors - help the barristers prepare their arguments.

* Barristers - these are lawyers that are trained and experienced in criminal law. Prosecution barristers will put across the police case and defence barristers put across the defendant's case.

* Stenographer - types down everything what happens during a trial.

* Witnesses - people called by the prosecution or defence to support their case. They are cross examined by the other side.

* Defendant - the person who committed the crime.

* Police and prison officers - make sure that defendant does not cause trouble or try to escape. Sometimes protect witnesses.

* Probation officers and social workers - write pre sentence reports about the crime and defendants. This gives the magistrates a better knowledge of the defendant and suitable sentences.

* Public - can sit in the gallery and watch the trial.

Magistrate's court

There is a magistrate's court in every large town and most criminal cases are heard here. There are 11 types of people involved;

* Magistrates - there are normally three magistrates. They are unpaid and take time off their jobs only receiving expenses. However stipendiary magistrates or district judges do get paid and are trained in law. Whereas magistrates are only trained on how to be a magistrate. Magistrates must be between 27 and 65 and have good common sense.

* Defence solicitors - lawyers that will try and get the accused the less sentence as possible.

* Prosecution solicitors - the complete opposite of a defence solicitor. Will try and make the sentence as long as possible by putting the case across against the accused.

* Ushers - make sure everyone is in the right place at the right time and that everything goes smoothly.

* The defendant, witnesses, police officers, prison officers, probation officers, social workers, the public and journalists all have the same role as in a crown court.

The Adversarial System

The adversarial system is a common legal system which has been adopted by England. It relies on the skills of different people representing their party's positions (prosecution or defendant) and an unbiased party (the judge/the jury) to determine the truth of a case.

The person accused of committing a crime must be considered innocent unless they can b proved guilty beyond reasonable doubt. It is the prosecutions job to do this. The defence need to do the complete opposite. They need to try their hardest to prove the defendant is not guilty or get the defendants as low a sentence as possible. This can be done by cross examining witnesses or the prosecution, or finding loop holes in evidence/statements etc.

Cross examination is the right for both party's to question each other and their witnesses. This helps to find out whether either party may be lying or got their stories mixed up.

Trial by jury is used in the Crown Court when a defendant pleads not guilty. The jury will sit in the court and carefully listen to evidence on both sides. The judge is able to give them advice and at the end they will decide a verdict behind closed doors. This system gives a fair trial because the decision is made by normal people with common sense and it's not just up to one person to decide.

Witnesses are required to give evidence under oath. Before they give evidence they must place their hand on their book of faith and say 'I swear my God to give the whole truth and nothing but the truth'. However they do not have to 'swear', they can 'affirm'.

The French Legal System

The French legal system has 3 areas of law. These consist of Juridictions civiles (civil), Juridictions specialisees (special), and Juridictions penales (criminal). There are a total of 11 courts for these 3 areas.

Juridictions civiles

* Juge de proximite (district judge) - this court is for small claims. Anything up to 1500 euros can be tried here.

* Tribunal d' instance - often deals with debt or rent arrears. Anything up to 7600 euros can be tried here.

* Tribunal de grande instance - normally things like divorce, inheritance, parental, authority or property. More than 7600 euros.

Juridictions specialisees

* Conseil des prud'hommes - Disputes between employees and employers about things like contracts and apprenticeships.

* Tribunal des affaires de securite sociale - cases involving state benefits.

* Tribunal de commerce - cases that involve businesses or companies.

* Tribunal paritaire des baux ruraux - cases that involve tenants, landowners and farm buildings.

Juridictions penales

* Juge de proximite - low level crimes commited by adults or children.

* Tribunal de police - crimes that are not give custodial sentences but fines and other punishment like the withdrawal of driving licence.

* Tribunal correctionnel - crimes that can be given up to ten years or other sentences like community service.

* Cour d'assises - serious crimes like rape and murder that can be given life sentences.

Similarities between the English and French legal system

The English and French legal system have both been around for a very long time and have been quite effective. They treat crimes the same as in both countries a small crime would go to a small court whereas a serious one would go to a big court.

Differences between the English and French legal system

There are various differences between the French and English legal system. In France there are more courts for minor offences whereas most of England's minor offences just get tried at a magistrate's court. France has many specialist courts like Tribunal des affairs de securite which deals with state benefits. This means that their lawyers etc. may be more experienced and have more knowledge in this area. French courts are considered less likely to make big errors like English ones.

The Scottish Legal System

In the Scottish legal system there are 3 verdicts that can e given in a case, guilty, not guilty or not proven. A not proven verdict is the same as not guilty in that it is acquittal. There are 3 courts;

The High Court of Justiciary - the main court in Scotland. Located in many large towns and cities. Deals with many crimes and offences committed in Scotland and has exclusive jurisdiction over crimes like murder, treason, rape and breach of duty of magistrate. It's the final court of appeal for criminal cases.

The Sherriff Court - Sherrifs have limited sentencing powers. A maximum of 3 years imprisonment or unlimited fine in major cases, and up to 6 months imprisonment or £5000 fine for minor offences. Can sit either with a jury of 15 lay people or without a jury.

The District Court - deals with very minor cases thought to be not bad enough for the Sherrif Court e.g. breaching the peace, drunkenness, petty theft etc. One or more justice of peace would sit the trial.

Similarities between the English and Scottish legal system

Both of the legal systems have different courts for different status of crimes. Scotland's High Court of Justiciary is very much like England's Crown Court. They both deal with high profile crimes. The Sherrif Court and District Court are similar to England's Magistrate Court in that they deal with low profile crimes.

Differences between the English and Scottish legal system

The Scottish legal system has 3 types of court whereas the English legal system only has 2. 3 verdicts can be given in a Scottish case not guilty, guilty or not proven, whereas in England only not guilty or guilty can be given.

Jamie Lorimer