Judicial System - Time For Overhaul?

[agchristie]

Do you think it is about time that our whole legal process for civil/criminal matters is overhauled?

Do we really see justice in the sense that where convictions are obtained, the sentencing is not a deterrent and frequently let's down victims. Of course, there is Europe, Human Rights, etc.

Why do cases often take an eternity, why all the adjournments? It's a huge topic but people are rapidly losing faith in our system...

No link to this (yet) just open for debate...

[agchristie]

I know we would not want the Italian system but are elements of our system too outdated?

[TTG]

When I did jury service, most of the other jurors did not want to be there at all and had no interest in what was expected of them. They made their apathy known quite a lot. Had they been chosen to go onto a case, their attitude might have changed though.

[agchristie]

TTG - Yes, I've heard this sort of thing before. Such an important duty. It makes you wonder about the mindset of some people.

[agchristie]

Ive not done jury service (yet!)

[Hypognosis]

I don't think sentencing has ever been a deterrent. There's never been a shortage of those who perform a type of crime that has been done by others before them and they presumably all think they're too clever to get caught.

No, if you want deterrence then you'd need to deny them conjugal visits and give them 20 years plus.

Or, you could try this…

[jno]

the American system is reasonably draconian - but people may stay on death row for decades; and during that time it may be revealed that they aren't guilty at all.

The Chinese on the other hand just take you out and shoot you, then charge your family for the bullet.

We're somewhere in between. I'm generally happy with it. I'd like to see prison sentences, when imposed, be the actual ones served; the US formulation of "10 years to life" is better than a 10-year sentence that will actually mean five. But that's more a matter of transparency than justice.

[Canary42]

I've served on juries (once as Foreman), and yes some of the jurors couldn't care less. Others however took a refreshingly mature attitude to their role.