Group Dynamics Paper.
Justin Smith Group Dynamics Paper 2/18/03 Group Definition A group is the interaction of two or more independent people, usually working together to achieve a goal. This group consists of "12 angry men," put together as a jury. Their goal to decide if the defendant is guilty or not guilty. Since these men did not choose to be put together, and had no prior association with one another before placement into this selected group, various contrasting personalities that both support and clash are working toward this goal of finding the defendant unanimously guilty or not guilty as a final verdict for the court. Such contrasts of personality creates a conflicting atmosphere in the courtroom. Such dynamic interactions are what makes the group development interesting. Group Development & Problems Throughout the movie a group development occurs where jurors question their vote due to the persuasion of other group members as new ways of looking at the facts or emotions of the case are analyzed amongst the group or by inner, silent thinking of the individual jurors. Group development is the changes that occur in the group from first meeting to coming up with an unanimous verdict (the conclusion). Much emotion and development of thinking occurs as time proceeds and the juror's individual thinking is challenged. This is the development of what will create a final, more thought out
Critically consider the proposition that trial by jury has out lived its usefulness and that it should, in the interests of justice and as a matter of some urgency, be abolished.
Critically consider the proposition that trial by jury has outlived its usefulness and that it should, in the interests of justice and as a matter of some urgency, be abolished. In order to critically evaluate the positive and negative aspects of the jury system it is essential that firstly, the purpose of a jury is established then secondly, we analyse whether the current system is fulfilling that purpose. The purpose can be segregated into three distinct principles1. The first is that the jury must decide the facts of the case and based upon those facts, determine guilt. Secondly, the jury adds certainty to the law. This means that when the jury delivers its verdict of either guilty or not guilty, it does so without giving reason and that verdict is not open to dispute. Thirdly, the jury provides what may be termed as the "just face" of the criminal justice system, insofar as the jury can arrive at its decision using any manner it chooses. In particular, the jury has been known to arrive at an acquittal on the basis of it conscience2, which will be examined later. Whilst it is expected that a jury fulfils these functions effectively, it is widely speculated that in fact a jury acquits too many people accused of crime3. This claim, however, is somewhat ambiguous. Since the process of a jury's deliberations is entirely confidential, both during and after the trial, it is
The UK Constitution
One might define the constitution of a country as a set of regulations that a government is expected to derive its principle rules, from which it can regulate the relationship between the state and its citizens. These rules are intended to police the powers of such a government and its institutions, and to which they are accountable to. Unlike the majority of the world's governments, the UK has an uncodified constitution; it cannot be found in any written document. As a result of this many would question whether or not the UK does indeed have a constitution. One such opinion is that of Thomas Paine who stated that the English Parliament "is merely a form of government without a constitution, and constituting itself what power it pleases".1 The argument against this is that a constitution does not necessarily need to be in material form by way of a written document to be considered incontrovertibly existent. I intend to examine the structure of the UK's constitution and explore some of its more controversial characteristics. Despite the UK not having its constitution set out in writing, the majority of its rules are in fact written down in. These incorporate statute law, common law and various treaties including some parts of European law. Another set of rules are conventional rules which, although being non-legal rules, are considered binding. The different constitutional
The rich get richer and the poor get prison
The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison Jeffrey Reiman, author of The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison, first published his book in 1979; it is now in its sixth edition, and he has continued to revise it as he keeps up on criminal justice statistics and other trends in the system. Reiman originally wrote his book after teaching for seven years at the School of Justice (formerly the Center for the Administration of Justice), which is a multidisciplinary, criminal justice education program at American University in Washington, D.C. He drew heavily from what he had learned from his colleagues at that university. Reiman is the William Fraser McDowell Professor of Philosophy at American University, where he has taught since 1970. He has written numerous books on political philosophy, criminology, and sociology. Reiman states his thesis in the Introduction. He claims that the goal of the American criminal justice system is not to eliminate crime-or even to achieve justice-but to project to the people an image of the idea that the threat of crime eminates from the poor. The system must "maintain" a large population of poor criminals, and to this end, it must not reduce or eliminate the crimes that poor people commit. When crime declines, it is not because of our criminal justice polices, but in spite of them. In testing this idea, Reiman had his students construct a
Describe with the aid of examples, the authorities, representative bodies or persons that exercise some form of authority over the winding up process of a company in each of the type of winding up recognized by the Companies Act 1995.
Describe with the aid of examples, the authorities, representative bodies or persons that exercise some form of authority over the winding up process of a company in each of the type of winding up recognized by the Companies Act 1995. Winding up is a term commonly associated with the ending of a company's existence1. The purpose of a winding up process is "to ensure that before the company's existence ceases, all its affairs are dealt with, which means removing the company from all its legal relationships. Its contracts must be completed, transferred or otherwise brought to an end; it must cease carrying on business; its liabilities must be met as far as possible and lastly the legal proceedings to which it is party must be determined2." On liquidation, the directors of the company lose all powers of management and any transactions undertaken by the company after the commencement of the liquidation are void. The company gives up its business, sells off its assets, pays its debts or if it is insolvent does so to the extent that its funds allow and distributes whatever surplus remains against its shareholders or otherwise as its memorandum and articles of association may provide. The process of winding up is placed in the hands of a liquidator. The different types of winding up 'Compulsory winding up' is a type of winding up done by the Court. The liquidation results
Is Sex is commonly used to describe the innate biological characteristics of humans constituting their femaleness or maleness?
Sex is commonly used to describe the innate biological characteristics of humans constituting their femaleness or maleness. Gender on the other hand, covers the social characteristics and usages associated with one sex or the other. Since such roles and customs can vary and be modified it follows that masculine and feminine the terms applied to the respective genders are much more flexible than female and male. In order to cover the subject of gender and crime it is important to explain its prehistory and standing as well as addressing the extensive material which appeared in the modern period of high fertility. Of course the definition of what is a woman or a man by no means always straightforward. Since such roles and customs can vary and be modified it follows that masculine and feminine the terms applied to the respective genders are much more flexible than female and male. Feminism has raised many uncomfortable questions for criminologist and has been critical of mainstream criminology for its gender-neutral focus and its exclusion of women. When the female was considered, she was generally seen as being inferior to the male. Although conformity was generally to be appreciated, when women conformed it showed their inferiority. This inferiority was of the same type whether it was seen as arising out of biological, psychological or social reasons. The woman was
Explain the distinction between law and morals and consider the importance of the connection between them
Explain the distinction between law and morals and consider the importance of the connection between them Morality means a code of conduct held to be authoritative in matters of right and wrong, whether by society, philosophy, religion, or individual conscience. Whilst Law simply means a system of social rules usually enforced through a set of structured institutions which affects everyday life and society in a variety of ways. There seems to be a strong connection between law and morality, usually something, which is seen as immoral, is usually seen as illegal. Therefore if our morals change it usually follows that the law must play "catch up" to maintain acceptable standards. An example is the Abortion Act 1967 where David Steele, a Liberal of MP claimed that it was immoral to allow such practices to continue and felt that society's attitude towards abortion had changed. Lord Devlin argues that law reflects (positive) morality, that is, the moral principles actually observed by the majority of community members. Morality here is seen as a kind of cement paste which holds society together. The law, whose main task is to protect life and duration to society, therefore, has the obligation to enforce morality no matter what (individual) critical morality could suggest. Any application of a legal rule, especially by a judge, implies or presupposes a moral decision, that is,
Ideas and issues in "the visit" and "a chronicle of a death foretold".
IDEAS AND ISSUES IN "THE VISIT" AND "A CHRONICLE OF A DEATH FORETOLD" Nicolas Antippas Mr. Mark Lindberg English 11 25/05/02 Nicolas Antippas Mr. Mark Lindberg English 11 26/05/02 Ideas and Issues Many works of contemporary literature discuss ideas and topics which are seen in the world around us today. These themes are either directly demonstrated or implied. Two works as such are "The Visit" by Friedrich Durrenmatt and "A Chronicle of a Death Foretold" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The issues raised in these two books are justice, communication, tradition, and moral values. Tradition is the ongoing obligation to commit to something, which is an act that has existed for many years. More often than not, tradition helps keep a community in one piece, much like laws do. In other cases, tradition obligates people and makes them do things they normally wouldn't do. In "A Chronicle of a Death Foretold", tradition is one of the forces that drives the Vicario twins to kill Santiago Nasar and therefore clean their family's name. However, the Vicario brothers try to escape tradition. They had a debt which they greatly doubted and criticized. They know what the whole town expects them to do. But on the other side, their everyday life and friendship with Santiago Nasar, their victim, fills them with haste to fulfill tradition and do their pre-said duty. In "The Visit", it's
"Jury tradition is not only about the right of a citizen to elect trial but also about the juror's duty of citizenship", said Baroness Helena Kennedy - explain how jurors are chosen for trial - comment on the advantages and disadvantages of trial by jury.
"Jury tradition is not only about the right of a citizen to elect trail but also about the juror's duty of citizenship", said Baroness Helena Kennedy (speaking in a House of Lords debate in September 2000). A) Explain how jurors are chosen for jury duty 15 marks) B) Comment on the advantages and disadvantages of trial by jury (15 marks) Juries have been used in the legal system for over 1,000 years. There is evidence that they were often used in the Norman Conquest. However, in 1215 when trail by ordeal was condemned by the church and (in the same year) Magna Carta included the recognition of a person's right to trail by 'the lawful judgement of his peers', juries became the usual method of trying criminal cases. Originally jurors were used for providing local knowledge and information, and acted more as witnesses than decision makers. By fifteenth century juries were independent assessors and assumed there modern role as deciders of fact. Jurors are summoned by an official at the crown court. It is there responsibility to summon enough jurors to try each case that will be heard in each two week period. The official is in charge of arranging names to be selected at random from the electoral registers, for the area of which the court is covered by. The selection is done by a computer selection in the central office. It is essential that the official summons more than 12
Generally, one would assume that the whole purpose of law is to promote justice. However, there are may varied theories on this relationship and first, it is necessary to consider them in terms of procedural and substantive justice.
Justice literally means 'the quality of being morally right and fair' (Oxford Dictionary). Generally, one would assume that the whole purpose of law is to promote justice. However, there are may varied theories on this relationship and first, it is necessary to consider them in terms of procedural and substantive justice. Procedural justice, which is favoured by the Conservative party, is concerned with the methods and procedures in place for making decisions and allocating goods and services. Under the Conservative Government, as long as these procedures are fair and everyone has an equal chance to get access to the law, the system can be seen as formally just. Nevertheless, this may lead to injustice due to the rigid application of the law (e.g. stare decisis). For instance, married women before the landmark case of R v. R (1991), which employed the Practice Statement to alter a 200-year-old rule, may be treated unjustly by the law. By having marital status, they were being denied the protection that was offered to every other woman against being raped. Concrete justice, in contrast, is preferred by the 'old' Labour party which developed on the rule of equity i.e. justice in its simplest sense is based on fair and equal treatments (Eves v. Eves 1975). The first theory of law and justice comes from natural law. It is a strange concept since different views can be taken on
