The malden court Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The malden court - Essay Example There is also no restriction to the use of legal materials in the court house, thus an individual can trace the laws applicable in different cases from the legal materials, and then observe how they are being interpreted by the judges and how they are applied in determining different types of cases presented to the court. The advantage associated with this aspect is that; a learner is able to participate in the court process fully, since they can easily trace the laws the laws that the judges, the defense and the prosecutors are applying in the cases before the court, and thus help the learner from being disoriented. It is through tracing the laws applicable in a case and seeing how such laws are interpreted and applied, that a learner is able to fully understand them. Thus, this is one of the major strength associated with The Malden District court, since it serves to indicate the transparency of the judicial system applicable here. The act of the court to allow the attendance of th e court proceedings by any interested party is a major step towards enhancing judicial transparency, since it indicates that the court is being honest in its dealings and it invites any interested party to evaluate its performance regarding its processes. While allowing the public or any interested parties an opportunity to learn the law through the court process, it also allows for the opportunity for scrutiny and evaluation of performance by the interested parties, raising the bar of The Malden court regarding the concept of transparency. However, the major weakness associated with The Malden District court, or at least with one of the case that I attended during my visit to the court is that; the judge did not give explanations regarding the case she was handling. The judge just read out the ruling of the court, gave out the verdict and the type of punishment that the defendant was to face, without clearly giving the judicial reasoning and the laws applicable in determining the c ase. Despite the fact that the other case that I heard attended, which was presided by a different judge, was characterized by the explanation of the judicial ruling, citing the laws applicable and the reason for which the defendant was to be sentenced accordingly, this particular case was handled differently. The judge just gave some files to the defense team, then read out the ruling and the punishment, and then adjourned the court, with a brief explanation that the reasons for the verdict given in the case were already supplied to the defense team. With that, the judge was through with the case. That did not work very well for the individuals who attended the court with a desire to learn something. This is because; they could not understand what laws were applied in the case, how they were interpreted and how they suited into the circumstances and context of the case, to warrant the judgment that the judge gave. The other aspect of the weaknesses that was noticeable in this case is that; the judge was too fast while announcing out the crimes and the punishment, while also using a light tone that was too low, which made it difficult for the individuals attending the court to understand everything that judge was saying. Thus, the weakness of The Malden District court, as displayed in this particular c