Shareware Overload Trio 2/Shareware Overload Trio Volume 2 (Chestnut CD-ROM).ISO/dir33/1798_r.zip/COURT.LAW

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     A court is an agency of government that provides authoritative
     decisions in legal disputes brought to it for resolution.
     Courts are required not merely to decide disputes but to decide
     them fairly, in accordance with the law--hence the phrase,
     "courts of justice." Courts fulfill three important functions:
     (1) they resolve disputes which, while often routine, are
     crucial to those involved; (2) they provide protection from
     illegal actions by government and individuals; and (3)
     occasionally they resolve disputes of great political and
     social significance.

                       WORK OF THE COURTS

     A dispute before a court is called a case, suit, or action.
     Civil cases are basically disputes over whether private legal
     rights have been violated, as, for example, whether a person
     has failed to keep promises made by signing a contract with
     another person. In a civil case, the plaintiff brings suit
     against the defendant, whereas a criminal case involves alleged
     violations of the public order. Although the victim of a crime
     is the one most directly affected, crimes are seen as a threat
     to the fabric of the whole society; therefore the government,
     acting for the people, prosecutes the defendant in a criminal
     case.

     To resolve a dispute, a court must do two things. It must "find
     the facts" of the dispute (in other words, determine what
     actually happened), and it must apply the appropriate legal
     principles to the facts. For example, in a dispute over who
     should pay medical bills for injuries suffered in an automobile
     accident, a court will seek to determine whether the
     defendant's carelessness caused the plaintiff's injury. If so,
     the court, applying the law, will direct the defendant to
     compensate the plaintiff for the damages suffered.

     One way of resolving a court case is by a trial, a public
     hearing in which lawyers for the parties present evidence and
     legal arguments. It should be emphasized that relatively few
     cases go to trial; the great majority of legal disputes are
     settled without resort to courts. Of the remainder, 90 percent
     are resolved before they reach trial. One reason is that the
     parties in a civil suit may agree to settle it by compromise,
     because each side fears that it may lose, or that what it may
     win at trial will not justify the expense of carrying the case
     that far. Similarly, a prosecutor may offer a criminal
     defendant the chance to avoid trial by admitting guilt to a
     lesser charge, thus escaping the more severe sentence that
     might be imposed were he found guilty after being tried on the
     original charge. Although this process of PLEA BARGAINING saves
     the court and the prosecutor valuable time, it may place unfair
     pressure on the defendant.

     Participants in a Court

     The most important court official is the judge; it is he or she
     who is ultimately responsible for the court's decisions. In a
     jury trial the judge interprets the law, and the jury decides
     the facts of the case. Juries range in size from 6 to 12
     citizens of the area in which the court is located. Jurors
     typically serve for periods up to a month.

     A court also has personnel who perform necessary administrative
     tasks such as managing the paperwork, arranging for jurors to
     be available, preparing the court's budget, and attending to
     its housekeeping and security needs. The chief, or presiding,
     judge is ultimately responsible for these administrative
     matters, but is usually assisted by the court clerk (an old
     office) or by the court administrator (a more recently
     established office).

     Courts must usually rely on others to carry out their
     decisions. The executive branch of the government is
     responsible for maintaining prisons and other correctional
     institutions to which courts may sentence those found guilty of
     crimes. Convicted defendants who are not incarcerated, however,
     may be supervised by court-employed probation officers. In
     civil cases, the parties may carry out a court's decision by
     themselves; if not, the court may provide for taking a
     defendant's property, selling it, and turning the money over to
     the plaintiff. In complex cases such as those involving school
     desegregation, one of the court's difficult tasks is to ensure
     enforcement of its orders by the many parties involved. The
     executive branch may have to use its police resources to be
     certain that court orders are obeyed.

     Jurisdiction

     A court may act only in disputes within its jurisdiction. For
     example, a court in Texas cannot, as a rule, assert
     jurisdiction over a defendant who resides in Louisiana.
     Jurisdiction also involves the kinds of disputes that courts
     may hear; for example, not every court may grant a divorce.

     More importantly, a court cannot reach out for a dispute to
     resolve merely because the judge thinks an injustice has been
     done. The dispute must be brought to the court in the form of a
     case. Furthermore, the parties must actually be in conflict. A
     person seeking advice on the legality of an act under
     consideration is expected to get the opinion of a lawyer rather
     than the decision of a court.

     A party who is dissatisfied with the way a trial court has
     applied the law to the facts may appeal to a higher court to
     review the lower court's decision. The role of the appellate
     court is limited to determining whether the trial court has
     properly applied the law or whether it has erred in some way.

     COMMON-LAW COURTS

     The court systems of the United States and England share
     historical roots. During the 11th and 12th centuries the
     English king resolved disputes with the aid of his "court," as
     his advisors were called. Formal courts of law gradually
     developed to apply the king's law for him. During the 16th and
     17th centuries the concept developed that the king himself
     should be subject to the law and the courts independent of the
     king. One cause of the American Revolution was the colonists'
     complaint that George III did not allow colonial courts the
     same judicial independence that had been granted in 1701 to
     English judges.

     As the English courts evolved, they began to study their
     earlier decisions for guidance. The law contained in these
     decisions came to be known as the COMMON LAW, and its
     traditions were inherited by other English-speaking countries.

     Courts in the United States

     The United States has 51 separate court systems. They include
     the federal court system, established and maintained by the
     national government, and the courts of the 50 states. Because
     of the separate state and federal systems, the United States is
     said to have a dual court system.

     The federal court system is more limited in size and purpose
     than are the state courts. Federal courts have jurisdiction
     over five basic kinds of cases. They hear: (1) cases in which
     the United States is a party; and (2) cases involving foreign
     officials. In civil matters, if more than $10,000 is involved,
     they may also hear (3) cases with parties from different
     states, and (4) cases involving the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED
     STATES and federal laws. Federal courts also hear (5) "federal
     specialties," cases involving patents, copyrights, or
     bankruptcies.

     State courts share jurisdiction with federal courts in
     categories (3) and (4), and they exercise sole, or exclusive,
     jurisdiction in all other cases, mainly those involving state
     law. Only those state court decisions that involve the U.S.
     Constitution and federal law may be appealed to the federal
     courts.

     The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest appellate
     court for cases within federal jurisdiction. The Court agrees
     to decide only about 300 of the more than 5,000 cases appealed
     to it each year; the other federal courts decide approximately
     330,000 cases a year, and the state courts, far more than that.
     The Court's decisions, however, are binding on all other
     courts.

     Throughout U.S. history, the federal court system has been
     small. In the late 1980s there were 168 permanent circuit
     judgeships in the 13 COURT OF APPEALS; the 91 DISTRICT COURTS
     had 541 permanent judgeships in the 50 states plus 15 in the
     District of Columbia and 7 in Puerto Rico. Three special courts
     hear cases involving customs duties, patents, and monetary
     claims against the government. Congress provided (1978) for
     BANKRUPTCY courts in each district, staffed by bankruptcy
     judges.

     The state court systems are similar in structure, but they vary
     widely in specifics and nomenclature. The major trial court may
     be a circuit court in one state and a district court, or
     superior court, in another. Some courts derive their titles and
     functions from a past era and are not the result of systematic
     planning. Most states have a tier of trial courts with limited
     or special jurisdiction, such as justice-of-the-peace courts or
     juvenile courts. Courts having jurisdiction over cases
     involving minor criminal offenses may also conduct preliminary
     hearings for more serious crimes to be tried in higher trial
     courts. These limited-jurisdiction courts often receive most of
     their financial support from local governments. Next is a level
     of general-jurisdiction trial courts that hear the full range
     of serious cases and often appeals in minor cases from lower
     courts. Finally, each state has courts with mainly appellate
     jurisdiction. Every state has a supreme court, although it is
     not always called by that name; about half of the states have
     intermediate appellate courts below the level of their highest
     courts.

     There are about 7,600 judges in state courts of general
     jurisdiction and over 1,000 judges in state appellate courts.
     Additional thousands of judges serve in special state courts.
     Historically, state judges were popularly elected, but
     increasingly states are adopting a judicial selection system in
     which the governor appoints judges from a list submitted by a
     commission composed of judges, lawyers, and representatives of
     the public.

     English Courts

     England has a unitary court system, with two fairly distinct
     subsystems for civil and criminal cases. Minor criminal cases
     are heard in one of several magistrates' courts, from which
     appeal is possible to the crown courts. The crown courts
     exercise both original and appellate jurisdiction in criminal
     matters. Above these courts is the criminal division of the
     Court of Appeal, whose jurisdiction is appellate only. The
     highest appellate body in England is the House of Lords, the
     upper house of Parliament. The few cases it hears are actually
     decided by a group of judicial experts, the Lords of Appeal in
     Ordinary. This same group of judges constitutes the Judicial
     Committee of the Privy Council, which hears appeals from
     countries in the Commonwealth. In civil cases, the courts of
     original jurisdiction are the county courts. Appeals from these
     courts may go to the High Court of Justice, which has both
     original and appellate jurisdiction. The high court sits in
     divisions such as the Queen's bench division, the chancery
     division, and the family division. Appeal from this court, and
     from certain county court decisions, is to the Court of Appeals
     and, again, sometimes to the House of Lords.

     England's two highest-ranking judicial officers are the lord
     chief justice and the lord chancellor. Although he is the
     presiding judge of the Queen's Bench Division of the High
     Court, the lord chief justice also serves on the Court of
     Appeals. The lord chancellor, a member of the cabinet, is the
     presiding officer of the House of Lords and serves on the Court
     of Appeals; the lord chancellor, however, is also primarily
     responsible for making judicial appointments and for advising
     the government on legal matters.

     COURTS IN CIVIL-LAW COUNTRIES

     Included in the civil-law countries are most of the nations of
     continental Europe as well as those elsewhere that have adopted
     European law. In this context, CIVIL LAW refers to the complex
     legal codes that the courts apply; the best known of these is
     France's NAPOLEONIC CODE, drafted at the beginning of the 19th
     century.

     Judges in countries with a civil-law system are not selected
     from the ranks of practicing lawyers; instead, at the outset of
     his or her career, a future judge attends a national school for
     prospective judges, after which the judge is eligible for
     appointment to a court. Once appointed, judges may be gradually
     promoted to higher judicial positions.

     Civil-law countries have trial and appellate courts, as is true
     of other court systems. A distinguishing characteristic,
     however, is the presence of numerous specialized court systems
     for particular types of cases. An example is the French
     administrative courts, which are separate from the courts of
     law.

     Another difference is in criminal procedure. In common-law
     countries the role of the court is to listen to the evidence
     presented by the parties, and make a decision based on that
     evidence. The civil-law countries operate on the
     "inquisitorial" system, in which the court itself, through the
     person of an investigating judge, takes a major role in
     determining whether a defendant should be tried. At trial, the
     judge takes an active role in questioning witnesses. Only in
     rare cases is a jury required.