Balancing the tension between community interest and individual rights and freedoms are a significant component of the criminal trial process and is relatively successful in that retrospect. In order to be effective and efficient the criminal trial process should reflect the moral and ethical standards of society, ensure the community is sufficiently protected and respects the rights of the individual. However, despite efforts to achieve justice for all members of society, the criminal trial process does fail to provide adequate success in some areas of the law such as the jury system, Legal Aid and the provocation defence. All these areas to an extent highlight the lack of success the criminal trial process serves in balancing community interests
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According to figures founded by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, between 1993 and 2011, defendants heard in the Supreme Court were acquitted of all charges in 55.4% of judge-alone trials compared with 29% of jury trials. Professor Mark Findlay of criminal justice at Sydney University accredits these exonerations to judges being less likely to be guided by emotion whilst jury members could approach the case subjectively thus hindering the presumption of innocence. Furthermore, juries are becoming increasingly more influenced by social media reports and coverage, risking the procedure of a fair trial and including the possibility of the trial being aborted. The issue of “trial by social media”, recently gaining national attention following the high-profile murder case of Jill Meagher (2012), compromises the accused presumption of innocence and transfers the burden of proof from the prosecution to the defendant. The courts have deemed maintaining the balance of publicity and …show more content…
Despite the accused having no automatic right to legal representation under the Australian legal system, it is widely recognised that Legal Aid is vital in achieving a fair outcome for individuals as seen in the Victorian case Dietrich v. The Queen (1992). The importance of Legal Aid is highlighted by the significant amount of service it provides to the community, as seen in Legal Aid NSW’s ‘Annual Report, 2014-2015’, which states that the Commission provided over 925,000 client services to disadvantaged people. However, Legal Aid fees are now so low that it is viable “only in very limited circumstances” for barristers to act for the most disadvantaged and excluded Australians, according to the Bar Association. Underfunding will result in less experienced barristers being used, which carries the risk of longer trials and more appeals. Furthermore, limited resources have resulted in overbooked community legal centres, which now face difficulty providing adequate support and have trouble keeping expert lawyers, who can earn up to 40 per cent less than the average public servant. Such wage disparities may compromise the advocate’s enthusiasm, resulting in a less vigorous defence and sabotage of the accused individual rights in the criminal trial process. Additionally, to be applicable for Legal
According to figures founded by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, between 1993 and 2011, defendants heard in the Supreme Court were acquitted of all charges in 55.4% of judge-alone trials compared with 29% of jury trials. Professor Mark Findlay of criminal justice at Sydney University accredits these exonerations to judges being less likely to be guided by emotion whilst jury members could approach the case subjectively thus hindering the presumption of innocence. Furthermore, juries are becoming increasingly more influenced by social media reports and coverage, risking the procedure of a fair trial and including the possibility of the trial being aborted. The issue of “trial by social media”, recently gaining national attention following the high-profile murder case of Jill Meagher (2012), compromises the accused presumption of innocence and transfers the burden of proof from the prosecution to the defendant. The courts have deemed maintaining the balance of publicity and …show more content…
Despite the accused having no automatic right to legal representation under the Australian legal system, it is widely recognised that Legal Aid is vital in achieving a fair outcome for individuals as seen in the Victorian case Dietrich v. The Queen (1992). The importance of Legal Aid is highlighted by the significant amount of service it provides to the community, as seen in Legal Aid NSW’s ‘Annual Report, 2014-2015’, which states that the Commission provided over 925,000 client services to disadvantaged people. However, Legal Aid fees are now so low that it is viable “only in very limited circumstances” for barristers to act for the most disadvantaged and excluded Australians, according to the Bar Association. Underfunding will result in less experienced barristers being used, which carries the risk of longer trials and more appeals. Furthermore, limited resources have resulted in overbooked community legal centres, which now face difficulty providing adequate support and have trouble keeping expert lawyers, who can earn up to 40 per cent less than the average public servant. Such wage disparities may compromise the advocate’s enthusiasm, resulting in a less vigorous defence and sabotage of the accused individual rights in the criminal trial process. Additionally, to be applicable for Legal