REVIEW OF LEGAL SYSTEMS
The legal system is a system developed to control the operation of a country’s regulatory, governmental and judicial authority who they supervise and impose the laws and regulations of the country. The legal systems that I choose to briefly review is my home country’s and in particular the Greek (Hellenic) legal system compared to the legal system of the United States of America (USA). I choose the above systems due to their differences and one similarity that they have.
The Greek legal system resides to the civil law tradition and it has been influenced by the Roman and Byzantine law (Blakesley, 1991) together with the modern civil law of the German state. The modern Greek law was established and evolved from the beginning of the Hellenic state on 1830 after the successful outcome of the independence war fought against the Turks on 1821. The vital element for Greek law is the distinction between private and public law (Tassopoulos, n.d.).
All the applicable Greek laws are codified in different codes. The only exemption is the administrative law (WUni, n.d.). According to Tassopoulos (n.d.) the most essential codifications of the Greek law is the civil code, code of civil procedure, code of the law trimune, code of criminal procedure and penal code.
Since the Greek (Hellenic) legal system belongs to the civil law tradition it does not have any common law reference and judicial precedent, therefore all legal cases must be addressed against a certain law applicable for the case which will also determine the outcome of the verdict of the mentioned case.
Finally the judicial system of Greece (Hellas) is completely independent and its independence is guaranteed by the constitution. The Greek judicial system...
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POMEROY, J., 1883. An introduction to the Constitutional Law of the United States. 7th ed. [online] Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Company. [viewed on 21 April 2014]. Available from: https://archive.org/details/cu31924019960867
TASSOPOULOS I. n.d. The legal system [online] [viewed on 21 April 2014]. Available from: http://video.minpress.gr/wwwminpress/aboutgreece/aboutgreece_legal_system.pdf
THE FEDERAL JUDICIAL CENTER (FJC), n.d, The U.S. Legal System: A Short Description [online] [viewed on 21 April 2014]. Available from: http://www.fjc.gov/public/pdf.nsf/lookup/U.S._Legal_System_English07.pdf/$file/U.S._Legal_System_English07.pdf
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The United States Judicial System is made up of several different courts, which includes the federal court system, the state court system, and the local court system. All three of those court systems handle different types of cases and have their internal structures and roles.
It is easy to assume that democratic legal standards (standards of law favored by most citizens) are involved in a constant evolutionary process. Subsequently, one is lead to the interpretation that ancient cultures would most likely subscribe to hedonistic principles; however, examination of 'The Orestia'; proves otherwise. Just like the final decree of Athena, most modern juries would see Clytaemnestra as a catalyst for Orestes homicide. This illustrates that while specific legislations evolve to mirror social change, the foundational essence of democratic trial-law remains unmolested.
First, according to justice.gov, “The federal court system has three main levels: district courts, circuit courts, and the Supreme Court of the United States.” The courts all have a different role to play in the judicial system. Court systems exist to provide justice for all. Now, the district court system is the beginning of the judicial system. A good amount of the cases handled by the district court system are either criminal or civil trial cases.
"Introduction To The Federal Court System." The United States Department of Justice - United States Attorney's Office. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. .
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Abadinsky, Howard. Law and Justice: An Introduction to the American Legal System. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.
Neubauer, D. W., & Fradella, H. F. (2011). America’s courts and the criminal justice system (10th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
The next component of the criminal justice system is the court. These courts are ran by judges that make sure the law is followed and oversees what happens in the courtroom. The courts are put in place so that the judges can decide whether to release offenders before the trial, except or reject plea agreements, or sentence convicted offenders (Hoffmann, 2011). The courts provide a set of guidelines that are used to resolve disputes and to test and enforce laws in a fair and rational
At the beginning of Athens, there were no set of laws or rules. They would generally have the injured person injure the one who injured them. For example, if someone was murdered, the family members of the one killed got to kill the one who killed him. Fate was often left up to those in charge, during the time of an oligarchy.
The Greeks did not have a professional judicial system with professional jurors or lawyers, they had what we now call amateurs. Usually the cases consisted of a prosecutor, a defendant, and the jurors. The prosecutors and the defendants were known as litigants. While the litigants argued over if the unlawful act was committed the jurors voted guilty or not depending on the arguments. These cases would usually take a day at most before the jurors would decide punishment. These "court officials" were paid little to nothing.
In this essay I will be discussing how the formal theory of the rule of law is an erroneous means of establishing laws within a state. A central theme to addressing this is essay is the distinction between formal and substantive theories of the rule of law. In order to reach my conclusion of the formal theory being proven to be insufficient, one must first appreciate the significant advantages which the substantive theory obtains. However, before doing so, I will briefly mention the importance of the rule of law in society and the requirements it needs to fulfil.
All legal systems are mixed, and continental systems are better understood as overlaps : a reminder that there are no pure legal systems in the world. Having mentioned the previous examples, one of the more complicated crosses, is none but the Maltese legal system.
The history and the evolution of what we know as law, has developed out of many different viewpoints and philosophies. It has been the result of the operational and manipulative aspects of public affairs, and also seems to be the creation of different philosophical systems. There have been many that have been innovators in this area of thought from political leaders and dictators, to others who were simple political idealists and philosophers. Through the wisdom and teachings of Plato, law has evolved into many different systems, and through this paper we will discuss the impact this particular philosopher had had on our modern system of democracy. We will also try to recognize that law will continue to evolve, as does man throughout history.
The judicial court system aims to achieve justice by upholding the ‘rule of law’, in which everyone is ‘subject to the law and can rely on the law to set the bounds within which other people and governments can operate.’ However, the rule of law does not always work to prevent all injustice, and lawyers should be actively involved in developing and maintaining the rule of law to establish a civil society which can be the foundation of justice for all. This is achieved through the professional identity legal personnel establish, demonstrating the importance of professionalism and resilience in the pursuit of justice and prevention of arbitrary abuse of power. This is observed in the comparison of the different courts and their operation to uphold the rule of law.