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The Adversarial System In The United States

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Adversarial system – An adversarial system is a type of legal system used in the US. In this system, two parties present their cases or positions (often by way of an advocate, such as an attorney) to the court. Depending on the type of case, the presented information is interpreted by an impartial person or group of people (a judge or a jury), who then decide what the facts are and what the judgment is. The key principle of the adversarial system is the pitting of the two parties against each other in a controlled environment; these two parties are known as the prosecution and the defense.
Dual court system – In the US, the court systems are divided into two main categories: the state courts and the federal courts. The state courts are typically …show more content…

In a trial court of original jurisdiction, the evidence and testimony in a case are first introduced, received, and considered. The findings of fact and law are made in this trial court, where they can then be appealed to a higher court that has the power of review. Since the entire process beings here though, this is known as a trial court of original jurisdiction. A trial court of general jurisdiction is a court that can hear any case that is not described as being exclusive to another court; for example, US district courts and state supreme courts have general jurisdiction. In a trial court of limited jurisdiction, the court can only hear specific types of cases; for example, a small claims court would hear disagreements over small amounts of money, but not a multi-million-dollar contract dispute.
Court of last resort – The court of last resort simply refers to the court that is at the top tier and has the greatest authority. Depending on which part of the dual court system one is looking at, the court of last resort may be different. At the state level for West Virginia, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia would be the court of last resort. On the federal level, the court of last resort would be the US Supreme Court. The court of last resort makes the final decisions on disputes unquestionably and without dispute from any other court; they have supreme …show more content…

This method has a nonpartisan commission of lawyers and non-lawyers, who are tasked with the duty to locate, recruit, investigate, and evaluate applicants for judgeships. From here, the commission submits the names of the highest qualified applicants (those with the greatest merits) to the appointing authority, who will the make a selection from the list.
Court clerk – The court clerk is an officer of the court who has the key responsibility of maintaining records of a court. These records include everything from holdings to transcripts, so their tracking and organization is extremely critical to the workflow of the court. Besides the records of the court, the court clerk’s other duties include the administration of oaths to jurors, grand jurors, witnesses, etc.
The National Judicial College – Located in Reno, Nevada, The National Judicial College was the first to offer programs to judges nationwide. The NJC continues to work with the judiciary to improve productivity, challenge current perceptions of justice and inspire judges to achieve judicial excellence. By offering an average of 100 courses/programs annually with more than 8,000 judges attending from all 50 states, U.S. territories and more than 150 countries, the NJC seeks to further its mission of education, innovation and advancing

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