Courtroom skills Flashcards
1
Q
Role of witness
A
Professional - a witness of an incident in person i.e. a police officer or a forensic scientist who gathered physical evidence
Expert - a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience is accepted by the judge as an expert
2
Q
The Report
A
- name, address
- circumstances
- list of exhibits
- work carried out
- conclusions
- use of assistants
- appendices
3
Q
Common law system
A
-precedents set by earlier case law
4
Q
Scots Law
A
- unique system
- not proven verdict
5
Q
The adversarial system
A
- arguing the validity of the versions of the ‘story’
- counsel have no duty to present all the evidence
- Gideon V Wainwright
- accused does not have to give evidence - ‘right to silence’
6
Q
3 features of the Adversarial system
A
- The adjudicator
- The evidence
- The rules
7
Q
The Inquisitorial system
A
- court determines the facts of the case
- Juge d’instruction
- Judge cannot investigate on their own accord
8
Q
Expert witness
A
- offers interpretation of findings
- offers opinions
- do not direct a verdict
- impartial and unbiased evidence
9
Q
Prosecution expert witness
A
- commissioned by the police
- prosecution scientist has greater time in an investigation
- defense scientist can be limited
10
Q
in court
A
-precognition can occur in Scotland
11
Q
Changing culture - 2 main developments
A
- Use of expert witness by parties
2. Change in the duty of the expert
12
Q
Joint expert
A
- equal footing of both parties
- minimises expenses
- complexity of case is minimised
- fairness
- court resources carefully considered
