adversarial

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adversarial

having or involving opposing parties or interests in a legal contest. Very broadly speaking, the Anglo-American systems prefer a system of justice where the result is obtained through the battle between the opponents without the seeking of absolute truth being a part of the process. Traditionally this meant that the judge was a referee rather than a participant and that the parties had control of the process. Recent trends are to at least have judges manage cases and seek to identify issues in dispute and to promote ever greater disclosure or discovery of material in the hands of parties and elsewhere. This system contrasts in theory with an INQUISITORIAL SYSTEM.
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It can be easily lost in our adversarial system that we're all in this together, but in terms of our democracy we really are.
Where are we to turn if we lose faith in the politicians?
Those more used to an adversarial system, where judges focus on the issues of law and procedure and act as a referee in the contest between the defence and the prosecutor, are often uncomfortable with the investigative powers of the public prosecution.
Forecast for Data Centres in the Region -- Cloudy with a Chance of Regulation
reminiscent of the English adversarial system and foreign to the French
Quebec procedural law as a microcosm of mixity: implications for legal pedagogy, judicial decision-making, and law reform
Defence Lawyer it's comments in response to a question about the personal toll of practicing sexual assault law demonstrate the way in which defence lawyers might rely on a notion of the adversarial system to insulate themselves from the emotional impact of a particular outcome in a case:
The ethical identity of sexual assault lawyers
The adversarial system naturally gravitates toward the use of forensic evidence since the prosecutor must prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt and the accused has the right to decline taking the stand.
Introduction of forensic evidence into the National Security Court of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Rather than lament the loss of our collective innocence, we should look at the adversarial system and the competitive nature of law practice.
A moral compass
For many this is an empowering experience, the opposite of a courtroom where they might be re-victimized in an adversarial system intent on discrediting them.
Restoring our souls: an exploration in healing at Congress
With the rise of plea bargaining, criminal justice has evolved from a purely adversarial system of trials and litigated justice in which the decisions are made by judge or jury to a system of administrative justice where the prosecutor makes the most important decisions in charging and plea bargaining.
A change in the environment of plea bargaining: using the inspiration of administrative procedural safeguards like NEPA to add process protections
Various reforms in Australian jurisdictions, England and elsewhere have had only limited practical effect as they fail to address the underlying problems that arise from the adversarial system itself.
Balancing fairness to victims, society and defendants in the cross-examination of vulnerable witnesses: an impossible triangulation?
balance with the preservation of our adversarial system.
Why does Florida have public defender elections?
At the same time, independent juror research compromises our adversarial system by preventing parties from responding to all the evidence under consideration and obfuscating the record on which the jury's decision is made.
Responding to independent juror research in the Internet age: positive rules, negative rules, and outside mechanisms
The adversarial system of law, which is the prevailing legal system in most English-speaking, common law countries, is premised upon the assumption that the best method for eliciting truth and attaining justice is through a confrontational encounter in which disputing parties, through an advocate, compete for the support of a neutral and passive decision maker (i.
Mental associations between law and competitiveness: a cross-cultural investigation

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