Unlocking the English Legal System

Document Type:Essay

Subject Area:Law

Document 1

Dan is now being tried for the attempted murder of his girlfriend, under the provisions of the Criminal Attempts Act 1981. He claims that he did not point the gun in his girlfriend’s directions alleged and that Mrs. Smith is mistaken or is lying. Secondly, he claims that the act of pointing a gun in this way is not legally capable of falling within the relevant section of the 1981 Act. (a) Who has decided whether Dan should be charged for his offense and by what procedure? [20 marks, approx. The CPS prosecutor reads the file and then considers two tests that are laid are prescribed in The Code for Crown Prosecutors. This gives the fundamental principles a crown prosecutor has to abide by while deciding on a prosecution.

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The tests have to be applied in all cases1. (b) In which court would this case be tried and by whom? [10 marks, approx. 150 - 200 words] Attempted murder is an indictable offense. Smith is lying about what happened? [10 marks, approx. 150 - 200 words] Once the case has been taken to a court of law and trial has kicked off, it is the role of the jury to decide which of the parties is lying. This is done through a careful consideration of the facts of the case. Today, this is the most important and also the most common use of a jury in the Crown Court3. They make decisions on criminal matters which revolve around the fundamental finding of whether a party is guilty or not.

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Therefore, it is difficult to figure out exactly what “steps that are merely preparatory” refers to. Therefore, liability for any attempt by the defendant is determined based on the individual case in question5. Therefore, the judge will go over the facts of the case and determine whether the actions of Dan are within what is termed as a crime by the Criminal Attempts Act of 1981. According to the act, impossibility cannot be used as a defense for an attempt. Therefore, Dan will be guilty of the offense that he attempted even if it was impossible to commit the substantive offense. In the light of the above facts advise Alisha on:  (a) The best method(s) of dispute resolution for the problems she faces.

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 [20 marks, approx. 300 - 400 words] In the light of the facts give above, Alisha should avoid a court proceeding and instead resort to a method of alternative dispute resolution. This is because, in a court trial, there is usually the party that wins and the party that loses. The adversarial procedure together with the aggressive court atmosphere of court proceedings can lead to divisions between her and her husband and employer, and make them end up as enemies even though this was not the situation at the beginning of the case. If she finds a good mediator who resolves the issue between herself and her employer amicably, she will keep the relationship with her employer. A court proceeding is most appropriate where the parties involved are strangers and would be happy to remain so9.

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(b) The advantages and disadvantages of resolving the dispute in this way. [20 marks, approx. 300 - 400 words] The use of alternative dispute resolution has a number of advantages for Alisha in this case. In addition, there is a high level of customer satisfaction with ADR and the parties involved remain in a good relationship because ADR avoids dividing the parties, thus maintaining the relationship between Alisha with her employer and also with her husband. Despite these advantages, ADR has a number of disadvantages. The first is that there could be power imbalance with one party acting more voluntarily than the other. An arbitrator may lack the legal expertise to render a decision in cases of difficult law points. However, a legal expert can be called to advise the arbitrator whenever this is necessary.

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