Court Observation Paper

509 Words2 Pages

I observed provincial court on October 27th in Wetaskiwin. My observation conveyed that the important roles of each of the actors had duties, and responsibilities to help the procedures within in the court proceedings to become respectful and professional. As I entered the courtroom I sat in the middle, where the public sits while facing the judge's bench at the other end of the courtroom. The other specters were silent and polite while the trails were in process. Most of the trails were about defendants in jailbreaking probation, which the defendant would be video streamed on a television at the front of the courtroom for the visual opportunity. The crown prosecutor was on the left side and the defense attorney stood on the …show more content…

During the trial, the ultimate authority in the court is the Judge. The judge uses a formal language and a serious dialect to ensure both the rights of the accused and the best interest of the public. In addition, the judge is the most respected person, as everyone was required to bow towards him while entering and leaving the courtroom, including the crown prosecutor and defense attorney standing when speaking. The judge and the madam clerk dresses in a robe, unlike the crown prosecutor and defense attorney as they both wore formal suits. The crown prosecutor was the lawyer providing any relevant evidence and when the witness testified, their questions were based on trying to convince the judge that the defendant was guilty based on the evidence. The defense attorneys are responsible for defending an individual who is accused of a crime as they provide a strategic defense for their clients. The case that I observed involved Aboriginal men and women, therefore, the court will make a decision on Gladue rights by taking into account of the defendant's background. This results in the defendant's background are alcoholism and his brother was murdered at a family party. The defense attorney will base her questions on convincing the dependence innocence, proving that because of the defendant being intoxicated at the time of the offense, he was unconscious state of mind and therefore did not possess mens

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