Improvement of The Criminal Trial
Before the reform, parties in the criminal trial did not have equal rights. The defendant had no legal counsel (legal assistance and legal representation were allowed in civil cases only). There was no distinction between trial in the court and both investigation and trial conducted by police. The judicial reform instituted the modern criminal trial based on the principle of equality of the parties. The defendant was allowed to have legal representation. The defence was now able to search for or provide evidence to the court, and the court itself ceased to perform investigative functions. Its only task was to decide which party presented more convincing evidence. Introduction of jury trial rapidly increased acquitals. The trial, in all courts except for the Senate, was now public.
Read more about this topic: Judicial Reform Of Alexander II
Famous quotes containing the words criminal trial, improvement, criminal and/or trial:
“A criminal trial is like a Russian novel: it starts with exasperating slowness as the characters are introduced to a jury, then there are complications in the form of minor witnesses, the protagonist finally appears and contradictions arise to produce drama, and finally as both jury and spectators grow weary and confused the pace quickens, reaching its climax in passionate final argument.”
—Clifford Irving (b. 1930)
“We are accustomed to say, that the mass of men are unprepared; but improvement is slow, because the few are not materially wiser or better than the many.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The criminal is quite frequently not equal to his deed: he belittles and slanders it.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Looks like we got a trial ahead of us. But it’s not the first time. We’ve had to go it alone before, and we’ll have to go it alone again. We’re tough. We’ve had to be tough ever since Brother Brigham led our people across the plain. Well, they survived and I dang it, we’ll, well, we’ll survive too. Now put out your fires and get to your wagons.”
—Frank S. Nugent (1908–1965)