Court , Newcastle Upon Tyne - Essay Example

INTRODUCTION The Crown Court of England and Wales represents one of the constituent parts of the Supreme Court of Judicature in England and Wales. Itis the higher court of first instance in criminal cases, which is equal in stature to the High Court.The Crown Court was established in 1972 by the Courts Act 1971 to replace the courts of Assize and Quarter Sessions. It is a permanent unitary court across England and Wales, whereas the Assizes were periodic local courts heard before judges of the Queens Bench Division of the High Court, who travelled across the seven circuits into which England and Wales were divided, assembling juries in the Assize Towns and hearing cases.

The role of the Crown Court is to deal with the most serious criminal matters. which include cases which are sent to the Crown Court from magistrates courts or youth courts due to the seriousness of the offence. Sole entering in Court 3 of Newcastle-upon-Tyne Combined Court Centre shows very specific atmosphere of law, order and formality. Located in imposing building made of red brick and glass, Court center dominates the center of the town. Criminal court layout is typical for crown courts in United Kingdom.

Room is dominated by judgeswearing colored gowns which are seated in the far end of the room, while in front of them is seated court clerk that manages all the court files relating the case that is being on process. Also in the area just in front of the judges bench is the sound recordist which records proceedings on a double deck cassette recorder with one tape or the other being changed at intervals. This record may be used if the case later goes to appeal. Throughout the room prosecution and defense lawyers are seated while behind them are places for probation officers and press reporters.

Along the wall on the opposite side of magistrates are seats for audience and another court clerk while the doc, place where accused is seating is placed by the right wall of the courtroom. From that place he is able to monitor all the acters of the process. The court layout was good because no matter where you was seated you still had a good view of the surroundingsCASEDavid Moore case which I have visited showed all the complexity and way of work of criminal justice courts in United Kingdom.

This 16 year old youth is accused together with his brother for damaging of property, and on 21th of February was brought for a first hearing which was conducted to decade if there is enough potential for starting the trial. Several minor issues were tackled during the hearing, but due to short scheduall of the court, there were no time for formal hearing of all the acters involved. During this short hearing, magistrate decided that there is enough potential in this case to start court trial, and the next hearing was scheduled for 24th of march while the trial was initially scheduled for 5th of may.

Since that day is Labour day in United Kingdom, trial was postponed for the next day, may 6th. Judge Bradshaw which will be leading the trial is trying to speed up the process and conclude the case as soon as possible, probably due to Moores age.ADVOCACYOn the hearing that I have witnessed, due to short time and tight scheduall there was not much advocacy showed, most of the hearing was short description of the case presented by the prosecution, while the defense layer showed some arguments in favor of the Moore.

Advocates have a duty to ensure that evidence in support of their client’s case is presented to the best possible effect and that witnesses, especially vulnerable ones like minor Moore, are put at ease and understand what is expected of them. Advocacy in Crown courts involves applying of 3 Ps: punctuality, preparation and precision. These principles can be expresed in another P which stends for proffesionalism. They are essential to the effective representation of clinets in the Crown courts, and also represent foundation of advocacy in the other in judical structure.

IMPRESSIONI found the atmosphere in the court to be very formal, intimidating and not friendly at all. The silence that sometimes rose made the atmosphere quite tense. I was surprised by the casual way in which some defendants, such as Moore, treat their appearance in the Crown Court, and a few seem to go out of their way to give an unhelpful impression. According to all seen, British criminal justice system is complex body with developed system that should ensure right and justice trials to all parties.

Bibliography: Newcastle-upon-Tyne Combined Court Centre http://www.netlawman.co.uk/courts/newcastle-upon-tyne-combined-court.php