The Trial Of The Court

INTRODUCTION

I visited Isleworth Crown Court on 8th April 2015. At First, there were two assistant who gave us the Court’s timetable and explained what cases would be trialled at different courts. Also, they explained where the jury, people in public gallery, defendant and claimant should sit. Before the Court starts Her Honour Judge gave a presentation in terms of her rule, how the Court proceed and how the cases are considered in the Court. She stated that any defendant has the right for fair trail and we presume that everyone is innocent unless proven guilty. Following this talk, according to the Court’s daily list I had to choose to attend at one of the Courts. Therefore, I chose to observe the trial (part hear) at court 8, which the case was R v Dhuper (2015), in which Mr Dhuper was accused for causing Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH) contrary to s.20. Although, the trial supposed to start at 10:15am but I was not allowed to sit in the public gallery until 11am. I remained in the Court until 3 o’clock and I was not fortune enough to see the full trial, due to the time His Honour Judge gave to the jury to look at the evidence and decide whether Mr Dhuper is guilty or not.

OBSERVATIONS

There were some question asked from Her Honour Judge before the Court commences, such as, the witnesses right to remain anonym because they might be intimidated. She responded that: if a witness is fearful of giving evidence, prosecutors must contact to the police to determine what options available to them under common law and by virtue of statute. The Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 (YJCEA) p444 sets out a range of special measures that are available to witnesses in criminal proceedings who are deemed to be intimidated. The special mea...

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...ison between the images of the scene of the crime and some photographs of the defendant which are available to the jury for the purpose of testing the witness’ evidence. It seems to me quite convenient to provide such equipment in the court to view the crime scene or able the jurors to see the photographs or video type taken by CCTV camera and bring all the evidence together and make a fair decision.

By concluding the reflection, it is significant that the court has safeguarded the interest of all the parties and tried to give such an opportunity to all parties to bring all evidence to defend their self and examine the allegation against them.

Bibliography

Catherine Elliott and Frances Quinn, English Legal System (16th Edn, Pearson, 2015), chs 19 , pp 444,

John Sprack, A Practical Approach to Criminal Procedure, 13th, Oxford university press, 2011) pp. 351,353