Explain The Key Features Of The Legal System

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Key Legal Concepts and Features of the Legal System Types of crime: offences against persons, economic offences (property/white collar crime), offences against the State, drug offences, public order offences, traffic offences, ‘victimless’ crimes, preliminary crimes (attempts, conspiracy) Crime: “An act or omission which causes harm to society and punishable by the state.” Offences against persons 3 types o Homicide o Assault o Sexual assault Homicide Where a person is unlawfully killed 4 types o Murder o Intending to kill another person o Manslaughter o An unlawful killing o 3 types  Involuntary: negligence causing death  Voluntary: accused intending to kill but there are mitigating circumstanced, eg; provocation…show more content…
Common Law Judge-made law’ requires judge to use their discretion in making judgment, when no appropriate statute exists It then sets precedent for other cases Constitutional Separation of Powers The Separation of Powers means that power is distributed between the three arms of the government, that is, the legislature, the executive and the judiciary Legislature: Arm of government responsible for passing Acts of Parliament Executive: Arm of government responsible for putting laws passed by the legislature into effect. Judiciary: Arm of government responsible for apply law to individual cases. The court structure (role of the local court, district court, Supreme Court, court of criminal appeal and high court in relation to criminal cases) Role of local court Lower Court • To hear and decide cases that involve summary offences (Example: DUI) • To conduct committal hearings that involve cases where a person has been charged with an indictable offence o Magistrate decides whether there is a prima facie (reasonable) case, if not charges may be dropped Role of District

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